"Would you like some coffee, Peter?" Helena asked.

"No thanks, this shouldn't take long," the man from the guild replied, turning his attention to Hera, who was sitting in front of him.

"I'll take one, please." Hera turned to Helena with a smile. It's been two days since she returned, but seeing her friend still calmed her heart. For a moment, Hera honestly thought she would never see anyone else again.

"Ms. Kingsley, Can I proceed?" Peter asked.

"Hera is fine," she replied.

"Very well. First, I would like to thank you for your discovery once again. If we didn't have the information that Wendigos could appear in any layer, I'm afraid many people would die."

"You are accepting this rather quickly, aren't you?" Helena asked.

"Yes, there have been reports of monsters that could grow, but we were not able to confirm if they were real or not. The corpse that Ms. King-Hera brought us is all the proof we need to confirm those reports," Peter replied in a cold mechanical voice.

Hera couldn't help but notice that the usually calm and caring Helena was giving off a menacing aura every time she looked at him.

"I'm glad I was able to help. Fighting one of those things is not easy," Hera attempted to break the tension.

"Nor should it be done on your own. The main reason for our problems on the 25th layer is for Wendigos that devoured explorers and now possess their skills. You should not have fought this creature but run away from it. If you had perished, others would have paid the price," Peter's eyes shimmered with a cold, pale light before he looked down to his tablet.

"And I'm sure she could have just run away. Oh wait, she did! Hera spent three days running from the creature before being cornered. Or didn't you even read the report?" Helena scoffed.

"I am aware of the circumstances that led to the fight, yes. This is simply a conjecture about what could have happened in case her plan wasn't successful," his eyes meet Hera's once more, "However, I do hope you consider this possibility if you find another of those creatures in the future."

Hera nodded, "You don't even have to ask. Fighting another one of those on my own is not on my to-do list."

Peter nodded, "Very well. The guild will also like to reward you for your service. Aside from the payment for the creature's corpse, the guild would like to offer you an upgrade. You will no longer have a bronze card, but a silver one instead, as long as you are willing to participate in a small ceremony."

"Why does she need to participate in anything? Since when is that a requirement for a silver card?" Helena asked.

"Helena, I understand that she is your protege, but she is a grown woman who can take care of herself. She doesn't need you to be a helicopter guardian. If you are going to keep interrupting me like that, it would be better if you waited in another room." Peter stared dagger at Helena, who replied in kind.

Hera smiled at her friend, "That's ok, Lena. I got this," Helena nodded and headed to the kitchen of their house. Hera turned back towards Peter, "Right, now. Why do I need to participate in anything? Since when is that a requirement for a silver card?"

Hera could hear Helena laughing in the kitchen after her question. Peter just stared at her for a moment.

"I'm afraid I don't know. I'm just the messenger here. Your rewards were decided by the people above me. They want to set up an award ceremony and an interview with you."

Hera considered for a moment. A silver card was a sign of trust from the guild. With it, she could take some quests that were only available for silver explorers and higher. But aside from that, she didn’t know if there were any benefits for her.

"I'm not very interested in doing the interview, or the award ceremony for that matter. I fought to stay alive, not to help anyone else. The only reason I dragged the corpse was in hopes that studying it could lead to a way of curing Helena."

Peter nodded, "I understand. You never asked for any of this, but the fact of the matter is that now you are here, and as a result of your actions, the guild feels the need to award you accordingly. The interview is a way to reassure other explorers that these monsters are not invincible and having an explorer with less than two months of experience talking about the fight will help with that. You can also use that opportunity to talk about Helena and how you fought to assist her. It would be a good opportunity to spread the word and have more people on the lookout for possible ways to help. Even if it is a lost cause."

Hera looked towards the kitchen, bothered by the man's comment, "I need some time to think about that. I never wanted to be famous, just to live my own life and waste my time doing helpless things," the words came sharp out of her mouth.

"Very well, but we need a reply by the end of the day in order to organize everything quickly," Peter reached for the pocket inside his suit, "You are also receiving this. It's a voucher worth a tailor-made 10 000 gold worth set of armor. You can make the request at the guild and talk to a very skilled crafter for the specifics of your request. If, by any chance, what your request goes over that value, you can call me. As long as it's nothing too unreasonable, we can cover the expense."

Peter gave the small card to Hera. It looked like a regular gift card from any store. The fact that something like that was worth 10 000 gold sent a little shiver through her spine.

"Now the value of the corpse. I ask you to be patient while we are evaluating the actual worth of the materials, be it for crafting or as a research subject," Peter explained.

"Wouldn't it be the same price as one from the 25th layer?" Hera asked.

"Nope, the ones there are much stronger. Your weapons wouldn't even make a dent on their hide. Also, if they gave someone on the first layer the amount of gold that people in the Qeeroni Wilds make, it would break the economy and send everyone in a mad search for the Wendigos," Helena yelled from the kitchen.

"But wouldn't that be a good thing? If more people are after it, they won't have the chance to grow too much," Hera replied.

"The guild is already setting up a quest for tracking down the wendigos and then to kill them, just as they did in the Qeeroni Wilds. But if people think they can become rich in one go, they might try to hunt them on their own and die in the process," Helena explained.

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"If you are going to keep listening in to the conversation, you might as well stay in the room," Peter sighed.

"Not at all. You asked her to leave. It would be impolite to disrespect your wishes like that," Hera said with a cold smile.

"Very well. Do you have any more questions?" Peter asked.

"No, I don't."

Peter took a business card from his pocket, "If you do, feel free to contact me through this number. I'll message later about the interview. The guild wishes to have it ready before the announcement of the Wendigos. Let me remind you. This is a time-sensitive issue, as I'm sure you understand."

As Hera nodded, Peter got up and headed to the door. Helena rushed right behind him to see him out. Hera adjusted herself. Her legs were still aching. After she reached the settlement, she got in a truck heading to the barge and only arrived back in Hazelpond in the evening. The first aid she received back there helped a lot, but even the guild's healers could do so much. Her legs were in bad shape, and now to heal it properly, she was supposed to avoid moving them so much. They even gave her a cane. Not that it would help that much since both her arms were also injured. The wound on her back was the worst one. It was too large, and it started healing wrong. To fix it, they had to reopen the gash and set it up properly.

Yet, what was bothering Hera the most was her ear. Very few healers had the ability to regenerate a lost limb. Healing spells used the body's natural recovery as a blueprint to fix wounds, but growing an appendage back was completely different. The guild didn't have anyone on call for it, and the price just to get her ear back would be over 100 thousand gold.

"At least it's just the tip. The rest is still there," Hera mumbled while rubbing her ear.

Helena sat on the couch by Hera and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie. This is all my fault."

"Why? Did you put Wendigo bait in my bag?" Hera chuckled.

"If I didn't send you there, nothing would've happened. Hell, if I didn't help to break the wall, all the Wendigos could still be in stasis."

Hera hugged Helena back, "Lena. This is not your fault, none of this. The wall would go down if not that day than later. You may be amazing. But I highly doubt that your support would make or break the assault."

"You are terrible at cheering people up. You know that?" Helena said.

"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear it," Hera turned her head, making her wounded ear face Helena.

"HERA!" Helena cried.

The duo laughed and stayed in each other's arms for a while. As much as Hera was trying to play it cool, her wounds were still a problem. Luckily, the guild had also sent a healer to take care of her. He was coming from the 13th layer and would only arrive in the evening. But he would be making some house calls for a couple of days in order to heal all her wounds. Or at least that’s what Peter had told her.

“Did something happen between you and that guy?” Hera asked, letting go of the hug.

“We worked together a while back. He’s just an ass. He thinks that other people are beneath him and treats everyone as being too dumb to know all the information. They offered me his job before he got it and I think he still resent’s me for that,” Helena replied as she went to the kitchen to grab Hera’s coffee.

Helena went back to her lab, asking Hera to call her if she needed anything. Thanks to the information and materials that Hera acquired during her journey, Helena felt close to a breakthrough in her research. Not only that, but she had been studying and developing new theories during the time she was working as a guild clerk. Hera understood her excitement, and it was nice being left alone. The last thing she wanted was to be treated as a sick patient.

Hera was safe in the city and could rest for a while, even if it was incredibly boring. Watching tv, reading, listening to music, everything felt dull and mundane. With something playing on the TV, Hera looked through the medical coverage that the guild offered. She was still finding her reaction odd. No one should miss the feeling of fighting for their lives, right?

Hera felt glad when she heard the doorbell ring, at least that was something to distract her. She was about to get up, but a yell came from the basement, "Don't you dare get up, Hera! I'm coming."

Helena quickly went up the stairs and headed to the door. The healers who treated Hera all said that she should be off her feet, or her wounds could reopen. She had been scolded so many times by Helena already that Hera stopped trying to move around.

"Hera, you have visitors," Helena said as she walked back to the living room with Blue, Alex, Bonnie, and Mark following her.

Hera rolled her eyes, "Can you not phrase like I'm in the hospital?"

"I'll do that when you can raise your arms above your head," Helena replied with a playful smile.

Hera squinted and attempted to raise her arms, but a sharp pain in her back stopped her from completing the motion. Blue rushed towards her, "Hera! Stop, are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"No offense, but I've seen zombies that looked less like death," Mark said as he sat on the couch in front of her.

"You can't talk to a girl like this and then complain you're single," Hera replied.

"It's a free MAZE, of course, I can," he replied.

"That is really not the point," Alex shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. What happened?" Bonnie sat beside Hera.

The explorer recounted the tale of her adventure to her friends. Talking about the pangolins, the Carbuncle and the one with a crystal scale, and then about the three-day fight with the panther. She avoided commenting about her feelings of boredom, not to seem weird to her friends. She wanted to talk to someone about this, to understand what it was.

"Wait, so you leveled up?" Alex asked.

"Yep, I'm level five now," Hera replied.

"I kind of want to be angry since you didn't wait for me," Blue pouted.

"Did you get anything special for the level up? I mean, five is a milestone, right?" Mark asked.

"Not really, just my regular stat up. My mana got a big boost since I kept cycling it to stay awake after the fight."

"Really? What is it now?" Bonnie asked.

Hera opened her status.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 5

Stats:

Strength: 20 Endurance: 20

Agility: 20 Charisma: 20

Intelligence: 20 Luck: 20

Mana: 311/311

Remaining attribute points: 1

Skills:

Passive:

Exponential Growth

Observe

Treasure Map

Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style

Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina

Mana Recovery

Active:

All in

Inspect

Hide

Local Guide

Weapon Maintenance

Etching

Role Skills:

Explorer's Assassinate

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's at 311," Hera replied with a smile.