The group was in front of the gate once more. There were several parties already in line and a couple of others in a rest area. Hera and her friend were off to the side, discussing what they had learned with Cassandra.
"OK, so when we are traveling, we can go through the poison fog to fight more things and get more loot. None of the lesser and basic poison creatures use any type of poison mana, and if we get hit by that sludge, we would need to cleanse ourselves anyway," Blue explained.
"As I told you, we need to confirm that first. It's fine to be trusting, but we should be careful nonetheless," Bonnie said.
"So, we are not trying the thing with the lizard?" Mark asked.
"Oh, we are, and we are going to need you for that," Bonnie said.
"I'm really not confident I can shoot it in the middle of the fight," Mark scratched the back of his head.
"Worst case, we run back," Bonnie replied.
"Ok, you are all careful about the poison, and now you are all gung ho about attacking the Greater Lizard. Why?" Leo asked.
"Because I'm not sure about the poison thing, but the lizard thing makes much more sense. The snake seems relatively friendly towards us, and the thing about monsters not dropping loot if they die without our interference was explained to us during training. Besides, if the snake comes after us, we can kill it," the researcher explained.
"Your priorities are weird. You know that?" Alex said.
Bonnie just shrugged and kept talking about the strategies. After a few minutes, the group had some new strategies to clear the dungeon. While they were ironing out the last details, Blue sat beside Hera.
"Hey, I don't want to put you in the spot or anything. But what happened back there?" the controller was speaking in a soft voice, enough for only Hera to hear.
"I'm worried this place will change me into something awful," Hera explained.
"Why?"
Hera took a deep breath and explained the entire situation. About the bonus room, the emperor, and the talk she had with the king. She avoided talking about Peaches, unsure of how mentioning that would affect the Guide skill. By the end, the explorer's grip on her handaxe tightened while she held back the tears that wanted to form on her face.
"I don't want to turn into a monster, Blue."
"Oh, Hera... you are not going to be a monster. Far from it. You are the kindest person I know. If you were going that path, you wouldn't feel this bad by all of this," Blue placed her arm around Hera.
"Yeah, he said the same thing," Hera replied, leaning into Blue's shoulder.
"Who did?"
Hera panicked, had she just made a mistake? There was no notification, so maybe she didn't say anything that would directly reveal the guide. Hera sniffed. She had made too long of a pause already.
"The king. I freaked out in front of him after killing the emperor."
"You're wrong," Blue replied bluntly.
"What?"
"You didn't kill the emperor. You hit a training dummy."
Hera stared at her friend, "What do you mean?"
"Did you feel bad when you killed the kobolds in the simulation? Or the slimes on your test?" Blue asked.
"No, they were attacking me. It was a survival instinct," Hera replied after pondering for a moment.
"You are focusing on the wrong thing. They were there for you to train, just like the emperor. The system made all that so you could get stronger. It was the same during training when we fought the dummies. Besides, if all the monsters were like you, the world would be a much better place," both of them chuckled with the comment.
Blue turned to face Hera, "And look. Even if you someday turn into a cold-blooded killer, which you are not going to. But if you end up like that, I promise I'll still like you. Or beat the bad out of you if that's what you want."
"I don't think a beating would fix that. But I'll take that offer," Hera said, getting off Blue's shoulder, "Thanks, Blue. I'm not sure when I'll be ok with all that, but thank you for being here for me."
"Anytime. Well... not for the next couple of weeks, but after that anytime," Blue said with a smile.
The group noticed that the two were having a moment and let them talk without interrupting. When they got up, they got in line to go on their next run.
It was easier than the first time. They knew the monsters' patterns, and with the tips from Cassandra, the party managed to gather 2 453 gold and another two bricks of clay. They failed to make the Greater Poison Lizard drop anything, and the Giant Snake didn't give anything after they healed it. The rest of the dungeon was just more of the slugfest against the poison creatures. Cleaning all the poison pools around the boss made Tanika just keep charging and blow up all the spikes after a few moments. The hardest part was the Greater Snake and Frog, just before the final boss.
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The only problem was the reward. Now it gave no items and just 750 gold. Apparently, the 5 000 was just for the first time you beat it. The first group to complete the quest after the weekly reset would get 3 000 gold.
After the second run, the group was too tired to do anything else. The small bursts of action followed by a long walk was a great exercise, but one that would exhaust you after some time. They were glad that the pearl strategy worked on the boss. None of them was entirely sure if they could fight several waves of enemies again.
During the night, Hera checked the mana stone reward. She had still yet to use the elemental essence that she got from the Arcanist Lookout. She was still unsure which she would choose. The most expensive one was the earth essence, but the spirit one could be more interesting if she wanted to use it for an enchantment. The mana stone also had a few options. It could be lightning, acid, or poison.
According to Mark, who already had picked a lightning mana stone, one of the things she could do is to use the stone as a spell battery. That way, she could be less stingy with her spells. The lightning stone was small, just about the size of an eraser, so carrying it around wouldn't be a problem. The crafter even offered to fashion a small accessory to make using the mana stone easier. Hera decided to pick the poison mana stone since it would allow her to use her mana for buffs and recovery.
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Minor Poison Mana Stone
A stone capable of storing poison mana. It can also be charged using pure mana at a lower rate of 2:1.
The mana inside it will be converted to poison mana regardless of the type used for the charge.
The mana inside it can only be used to power poison mana related effects.
Poison Mana Stored 0/500
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The stone was oval and white, much like stones one would find by a river, and just a bit bigger than a strawberry. Hera started to send her mana to the rock, and little by little, it changed color to bright orange. The same color as her poison spray. Charging the stone was easy, but using it was odd. She had to make the conscious decision of pulling the mana from the rock and not from herself. It would take a while to get used to doing that.
During the second run, she used her spells much more. Even though the poison needle was still useless against the poison creatures, but her poison spray was surprisingly effective against the monsters inside the fog. Having the poison mana stone also allowed her to be a bit of a healer with the Mend spell and take some more damage with her Bark Skin.
They spent the week doing that routine, a run in the morning, and another one in the afternoon. One day before they needed to head back to the city, Hera gained a level reaching level 4.
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Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 4
Stats:
Strength: 17 Endurance: 17
Agility: 17 Charisma: 17
Intelligence: 17 Luck: 17
Mana: 213/213
Remaining attribute points: 1
Skills:
Passive:
Exponential Growth
Observe
Treasure Map
Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat
Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina
Active:
All in
Inspect
Hide
Local Guide
Weapon Maintenance
Etching
Role Skills:
Explorer's Assassinate
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She got enough attribute points to increase her stats by two. She got only 3 bonus points this time. She wasn't sure why, but in hindsight, she spent much longer at level 2. There were probably more opportunities for her to get more points.
Mark also gained a level, reaching level 3 like the others. On the last run, Alex also gained a level, reaching level 4. Leo kept complaining about how that was unfair since they were all fighting together. However, as it was her role's nature, sometimes Alex could kill the monsters on her own. After seeing Hera hunt on her own, the assassin started to pick off creatures that had strayed too far from the pack.
They managed to get another piece of the snake's skin and more clay, as well as a considerable amount of gold to each of them. They only got a single rare drop, a poison core from the boss.
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Poison Core
The crystallized essence of an old poison creature. The core works as internal storage for mana and can be activated to increase a poison attack power. It can also absorb the surrounding mana to create poison mana.
Unusable in its current state, the core needs to be treated and attached to something before working.
It can also be infused in a piece of equipment to give it strong poison properties.
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They checked the price of the core, and it was pretty expensive. If the group sold it, they could get almost 1 000 gold each. However, since Hera was using poison spells, the group agreed to let her buy out the item. It was considerably big, about the size of a basketball but not very heavy. Before confirming she would take the core, Hera sent a text to Helena asking her opinion on the subject. Worst-case scenario, she wouldn't reply in time.
During the night of their last day, the group went to a bar close to the inn, celebrating their haul and the moments they shared. They laughed and joke around late into the night before heading back to the inn. In the morning, they headed back to Brinnefront. Leo had to get ready to meet his battalion, and Blue needed to go home to pack for her trip. Hera also wanted to leave the MAZE, she needed to check on her flat, and her grandmother's birthday would be on the weekend.
When they arrived in the city, Helena replied to Hera about the core. According to the mage, the item was hard to come by, and many scholars would want to use it for their research. However, if Hera wanted to keep it, she could fashion some gear with either resistance or increased damage. Another option would be to combine the core with a mana stone to make a self-sustaining mana battery. Although the actual amount of mana it would recover would vary depending on the mana stone's size and quality.
Hera was also discussing the possibilities with Mark, and he had some interesting ideas about how to use the core. She decided to take the item. Even after paying the rest of the group, she still had over 15 000 gold on her account. In one month, she made more than she would have in an entire year. Before heading out with Blue, Hera looked for a gift for her grandmother. After finding something grandma Triss would love, she left the MAZE together with her friend, heading toward her flat for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime.