It took Hera forty minutes to get back in the ocean. It was much easier this time. Not only she was well rested, but her muscle memory also helped a lot to move around the way she should. The centipede was turning into the easiest of the bunch. Her flashbang trick made the creatures stop moving completely while she killed it.
To deal with the sea creatures, her plan was simple. Move fast and hide. Hera realized that the longer she stayed underwater, the faster the sharks would come after her.
Hera kept swimming fast, not staying long in the same spot. Even a few times, when the sharks were close, she moved from one reef to another, trying to find the manta ray.
After ten minutes, she still wasn't able to find her target. The sharks were already closing in or her location. Hera looked towards the circle that the beasts were making, and in the middle of it was the manta ray, swimming without a care in the world.
She clenched her fist and pressed her legs on the ocean's floor. Her only option right now was to avoid the creatures and go for her target. Activating her [All In], the explorer shot up towards the shark whirlpool. The first four took too long to move, allowing Hera to pass by. The next three rushed towards her but failed to connect with their bites.
Hera could see her target, and she was ready to attack the manta ray. Three more sharks were closing in, coming from the sides. She still had a chance. All she needed was to be faster than them. However, when the two sharks came from above the manta ray, she knew it was over.
She got bitten by the two sharks at once and appeared once more in the blue reception room.
"Bad luck, kid?" Peaches asked.
"Can you please stop asking that?"
"Sorry, old habits."
Hera took a moment to rest, "I even used my skill on that."
Peaches asked what happened, and Hera told about where the target was, "Oh, kid. That was bad luck. Some rooms have creatures that work together."
Hera started in the jungle room one more time. A couple of failures later, she was back at the reception with light pink walls. This attempt was much shorter than the previous ones. Hera ended up in an area without reefs big enough to hide. Just thirty minutes after leaving the first reception, she was teleported back. At least her time was improving.
In her next attempt, Hera managed to get to the ocean in one go. This time Hera dove into the water right away. She was feeling pumped and ready to begin. Instead of staying close to the floor, Hera took a risk and stayed near the surface. A few sharks were roaming with their fins out of the water. That allowed Hera to have a better idea of where the creatures were. Five minutes after entering the room, she found the manta ray.
Looking around to be sure no sharks were coming, Hera dove towards her target. The creature would change positions and bury itself in the sand. If she wasn't looking straight at it when it burrowed, there was no way she could find it.
Hera moved closer to the creature, waiting for it to be completely hidden. She looked to the sides and noticed a couple of sharks heading her way. She wouldn't be able to wait for too long before attacking. Closing in the manta ray, Hera got her handaxe ready.
She stood behind her target, trying not to block the light coming from the surface, and slashed at the manta ray's midsection, hitting the sand under it. Hera pulled her handaxe back, splitting the back side of the creature.
The sharks were still approaching. Hera looked around, trying to find the door. Near a reef, the door frame appeared. She rushed towards it, worried the sharks could still get her.
She managed to reach the door, but pushing it was weird. It took a lot of effort to make it move even a little. Shoving both her legs into the sand, Hera opened the door. She looked back and saw a shark approaching quickly. Grabbing the doorframe, Hera pulled herself towards the reception.
Hera closed the door in a hurry, afraid the sharks could still reach her.
"You don't have to do that, kid. They can't come in here," Peaches said.
"Well, I'm not taking any chances. It took a lot of me to get here."
"But you can do it again, kid. It Is that or passing the next room on your first try."
Hera's shoulders slumped, "There is more?"
"That's up to you."
Hera frowned, "You know that cryptic thing you do is a bit annoying."
Peaches chuckled, "Sorry about that, kid. I got used to being like that in the other test. This can be the end of your test. Or you can try one more room."
Hera stared at the guide for a moment, "What is the catch?"
Peaches smiled, "If you finish now, you get the skill and the perks that come with it. If you beat this next room, your relic will receive an upgrade."
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Hera squinted at the green apple, "But?"
"You are catching on quick. But you only have one chance. If you fail, that's it."
"If I fail, I fail the whole test?"
"Oh no, my mistake. I meant that this last room is a one chance thing. If you fail, you will go back to the beginning of the test. Then you need to pass the ocean one more time."
Hera looked at the timer, "I still have around three hours. I think I can do it. It's not going to be a huge room like the one on the explorer's test, right?"
"Nah, It's much smaller. But it will be harder for you. Well, maybe not."
"Why?"
"Are you doing it? I can't tell you if you are not."
Hera looked again at the timer. Even if she wasted two hours there, she could still come back and have a chance at beating this test.
"I hope I don't regret this. But I'm in. Should I go through that door?" Hera pointed at the door on the other side of the grey-colored reception.
"Not yet," Peaches looked at Hera. A second later, a notification appeared in front of her.
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Quest Updated:
Explorer's quest - Assassin Skill
You have acquired abilities that mirror that of an assassin. You may attempt the assassin role test to unlock the assassin related skills.
To begin the quest, head to a doorway, and the option to travel to the test area will appear.
Hidden goal:
Complete the mission responsible for creating the assassin role.
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"What is this about the creation of the role?" Hera asked.
"As an explorer, you can discover the history of things. Not that other people can't, but you have a special knack for it. Well, it would be more like the MAZE will give you more information about the history of things."
"This seems more than just giving information," Hera said.
"True, from time to time, you will find things like that. Places that the MAZE doesn't simply give you a hint, but just slaps you with the information," Peaches laughed.
"The MAZE gets weirder by the second," Hera sighed.
"You have no idea, kid."
The screens flickered around the room, and several images appeared. They were all paintings, tapestries, and other artistic representations from the middle ages.
"Well, since this is my job, let me tell you a story," Peaches said, "A long time ago. In the ages of kings and nobles, it was very common for powerful people to employ their own force of assassins. Wars would start and end by their hands, kingdoms would fall, and empires crumble. All that was needed was a single well placed poison or one well executed ambush. That was also true inside the MAZE. A good assassin could change the tide of battle, hiding in the shadows and taking out the monsters in a single strike."
Peaches pointed Hera towards the screens with the part of the story he was telling. It started with a tapestry of a king, then a painting of a shadowed figure looking at a burning city.
"The ultimate proof of the role's worth was when an empire in the MAZE plotted to conquer all the rooms. The emperor had used magic to create an army of undead soldiers under his command. Each enemy that fell by the undead's hand would rise and become a part of the emperor's army," The guide pointed towards a picture of a skeletal army with one human in the middle.
"A king, saddened and angry after seeing his soldiers' sacrifice perverted like that, went after the emperor on his own. The king was not a warrior nor a commander. He was raised to perform the role of a killer, and only by an unfortunate disease that fell upon his family that he came to bear the crown."
The painting showed an imposing figure with a silver armor filled with sea-themed ornaments. The crown on his head gave Hera the impression of two waves crashing at each other. For some reason, Hera felt that the figure was familiar somehow, but she wasn't sure where she had seen it.
"The king invaded the emperor's palace alone. He avoided all his guards and patrols and reached the emperor's bed chambers. Thanks to the emperor's hubris, king Gwendelan was able to slit the mad ruler's throat while he slept. However, his success was not without a price. By killing the emperor, he inherited the ability to control the undead army, but he would not be able to harm them or to dispel the magic. To protect everyone, Gwendelan, the first assassin, called all his troops to the castle and sealed it off. He made sure that nothing would break the seal, not as long as he was still around."
The last few paintings showed the king sneaking in the castle, killing the emperor, and controlling the undead. The final piece, however, was a tapestry of king Gwendelan as an undead. There was a small symbol on the corner of it, a pair of waves crashing at each other and an olive branch in the middle.
"This was the moment the system ruled that assassins would be a part of the roles, although the actual roles still took some time to appear."
Hera stared at peaches, "Wait, so the system figured out the roles but waited before giving them to us?"
Peaches nodded, "Yeah, don't ask me why. Maybe it wanted to cover all the bases before making the change."
"This is too much for my head," Hera said.
"Don't focus on the reason. Just listen to the story. Now, for the actual test," the screens shifted, showing a couple of skeletons and humans as well as several blueprints of the emperor's palace, "You will have access to everything Gwendelan had. All you need to do is recreate his mission. You don't need to move the same way he did. In all honesty, you can't even get close to his skill right now, but you need to accomplish the same result. And don't worry, this still is scaled to your level."
"Ok... can I use my tablet this time? Memorizing all those blueprints will be very tricky," Hera asked.
"No, if you do, it will be just like with the monkeys."
"Fine, let me see where to start."
Hera began to formulate her plan. Gwendelan had a very thorough report, from the change in shifts to what the soldiers would eat and even their fears or allergies. The blueprints also had notes about places that could creak or give away his position as he walked by.
"Did king Gwendelan really found out all this?" Hera asked.
"Yeah, he and his spy network. Many lives were lost to gather that intel."
Hera nodded. The fact that many people had died to get this was all but surprising. As she kept going through the report, a thought occurred to her.
"Peaches, will I have to kill humans in there?"
"They will be simulations of humans, but yeah. As the name of the role implies, it was created to kill people. Even if humans seem less gung-ho about killing each other now, I doubt that the need for assassins will ever disappear."
Hera kept staring at the screen that showed the emperor. According to the information, he was as evil as it gets. He killed most of his people to turn them into undead. He would use peasants and children as meat shields for its army, and he was terrible even before getting that power. To become the emperor, he killed his entire family, including his mother and his infant brother.
Even with all that, killing a person was something Hera had never considered. Not like this. If it were self-defense, it would be one thing, but killing someone in cold blood was different. Could she do it?
Peaches stayed quiet while Hera formulated her plan, but he was still keeping track of the time. She was reading the intel for half an hour already. The guide didn't want to rush her, but he still couldn't help but give a push.
"So, kid. Ready to try?"