Hera and her team arrived in the guild. The first thing she wanted to do was take a shower. Sadly, she wasn't the only one. The shower lines were so long that the guild had to set up a number queue system. Hera's number was 45, and there were only 10 showers, so it would take some time before she was able to properly clean herself. Having to wait, Hera went back to Cass to make sure there weren't any issues with the team. The mage was talking to a group of people. When she noticed Hera approaching, Cass waved at Hera.

"Hey, is everything ok?"

"Yeah, just wondering if you need any help."

"Don't worry, girl, everything is fine. We gave the chest to the guild, and we'll have the full list soon. When we get it, I'll call the team, and we can see what we want to do," Cass said as the other people around her kept staring at Hera.

"Ok, sorry to disturb you. Call me if you need anything," Hera quickly replied and left her team leader. The way people stared at her made it seem like she was interrupting something important.

Unsure what to do, Hera checked the shower line. It was still at 17. With a sigh, she started looking for Helena. It didn't take long to find her. She was working with the clerks to organize everything and setting up the supply chain around the city.

When Helena saw Hera, her eyes went wide for a moment. Her assistant was covered in dried blood and sweat Helena clenched her fist, trying to compose herself before talking, "Hey, sweetie. How was your first day?"

Hera noticed how Helena's voice cracked as she spoke. And the way she greeted her felt more professional than personal.

"Hey, Lena. It was fine. I got few bruises, but Runir and Mika, the healers, were able to help. I'm going to take a shower. Then I'll head to the infirmary for a checkup."

"That's good. That's good. And did you have fun?" Helena glanced at Hera but kept working.

"I wouldn't say fun. But it was good. I managed to practice some of my spells. We had to fight a five-meter tall snapping turtle, and the ones that hit me were mostly frogs. Oh, I completely forgot to use the affinity sight, sorry."

Helena flinched slightly when Hera talked about the turtle but returned to her regular expression in an instant, "Not so loud, sweetie. That is still a secret. If you can use it, it would be great, but focus on surviving, ok."

Hera felt like Helena was odd. Maybe she was scared that she was in a place where a rampage was going on with no magic to help her, "Lena, do you need to talk?"

"I'm fine, sweetie. There is just a lot of work to be done," Helena looked around and waved to someone, "Sorry, but I have to run. We'll talk later, ok," she rushed off before Hera could reply.

Hera went toward the infirmary. She had taken some hits during the defense. Even with the heals and care from Runir and Mika, she still wanted to make sure there weren't any serious wounds. Another long line was in front of the clinic. However, this one moved much quicker. Most of the people there were doing the same as Hera, just doing a small checkup to ensure they were still in peak condition. In one of the beds, there was a man with several blood-soaked bandages warping around his torso. By the look of it, he wouldn't be fighting for any time soon. The rampage had taken out its first explorer.

As she walked to the back of the line, Hera saw Alex, Blue, and the rest of the team waiting to get a checkup. They greeted each other, but Hera had to stay in the end. In less than twenty minutes, it was her turn. She had a few cuts and bruised, but a quick heal from the on-call healers was more than enough to patch her up. As she left, Hera met Blue and the other members of the team. They talked about the fight and looked for a place to rest.

A while later, after Hera had gotten her shower, the group headed to a large hall that was being used as a cafeteria. They started to eat, but Hera kept searching for Helena. She was worried that the mage was overworking too much. After eating, Hera left the group before going to the training room that was being used as a dormitory. Asking around, she found out that Helena was in one of the laboratories that the guild had. It didn't take long for her to find the right room and knock on the door.

"Lena, are you there?"

A moment passed before Helena opened the door, "Hey sweetie, is everything ok?"

Hera nodded, "Yeah. I'm worried about you. Weren't you going to eat with us?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I'm kind of busy right now. We can talk later, ok?" Helena tried to close the door, but Hera stopped her.

"Lena. What is going on? You are really weird today."

"I'm fin..." Helena started but was quickly cut off.

"No, you are not. You can say when something is wrong, Lena."

Helena stared at Hera for a moment before letting out a long sigh, "I hate when you use my words against me, you know that?"

"I do. That's why I'm saying it right now."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Helena moved away from the door to allow Hera to enter. She paced around the lab for a moment while the explorer looked at equipment. There were several types of scanners, as well as flasks and some chemical compounds all over the room, and a bag with several rocks and the pangolin scales that Hera had brought was lying on the table. She wanted to ask about what Helena had found, but she was still pacing, restless.

"If you keep walking like that, we are going to have to pay for a new floor for the guild," Hera said.

"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Helena stopped to face Hera.

"Talk to me."

"Talk about what? How about how I'm taking advantage of you because I know you feel like you owe me something? Or maybe how I almost got you killed for some stupid research. Even better, how about how you came here and are putting yourself in harm's way for me one more time?" Helena snapped. Hera saw her raise her voice for the first time.

"Lena..."

"Don't you Lena me, and don't you dare tell me I'm wrong. If it weren't for me, the wendigo wouldn't have found you. Hell, the damn thing maybe wouldn't even be around, and the people in the wall could still be alive. How the hell am I supposed to face Quinn or your friends after putting you through all that? How am I supposed to face you?" Helena's eyes started to water.

Hera got up and hugged Helena.

"Hera, stop," Helena tried to push Hera away, but the explorer wouldn't let go.

"Lena, what happened to me wasn't your fault. And no one is blaming you for the wall. If you weren't there, the guild would still manage to break it," Hera said.

"Oh, please. Fine, the guild would do that, but if it weren't for me, you would..."

Hera cut her off quickly, "If it weren't for you, I would find a way to be in an even worse place. Maybe I would be in the middle of the forest while the rampage was going on, Or I wouldn't have the camping gear, and the Panther would eat me alive in the middle of the night."

"You still wouldn't be here," Helena said, still holding her arms to the side, not hugging Hera back.

"Yeah, I would. This is a great way to make money and to train skills. I never knew this type of thing happened. Besides, I have a silver card. I have to be a good example."

"What do you mean you never knew? This is part of the basic training," Helena said.

"Well, I never heard about it. Not that I remember, at least."

"Dammit, Calvin," Helena sighed.

"Yeah, he was better at teaching combat than... well, everything else."

"You can say that again," Helena paused and put her arms around Hera, "I'm sorry for letting you get hurt."

"You are not letting me get hurt. It's part of the job," Hera said.

Helena took a deep breath, "I don't want to lose a friend again."

"So help me get stronger. Strong enough so that nothing can kill me," Hera replied.

"You say like that's easy," Helena chuckled.

"Well, for a genius mage, it can be."

"Genius. Yeah, right," Helena rolled her eyes.

The two stayed like that for some time. Hera could feel Helena trembling in her arms. She must have been dealing with some of that for a long time. Hera felt ashamed. How could she have been so oblivious to Helena's feelings? She had to get out of her own head and be more conscious of the people around her. Helena let go of the hug and wiped away her tears.

"I'm supposed to be the grown-up here. You know that, right?" Helena said.

"That doesn't mean you can't be scared. Just promise you'll talk to me, ok. I'm not doing anything just for you. I needed a goal, and you gave me one. I'm not doing anything without thinking about it first, ok? The rampage is on the first layer, so we obviously can take it. The MAZE might be ruthless, but it is always fair, wasn't that part of the training?"

"Well.. yeah, but as you said, it still is ruthless. You need to be careful."

"I will," Hera said. She stared at Helena for a moment, wanting to ask about the friend she had lost, but it felt like a bad moment to do so. She looked back to the table, "So, did you find anything interesting?"

"I actually did. The rocks can be used to focus your mana. If you grab the fire stone and pass your mana through it enough times, your own mana can start turning into fire mana," Helena walked towards the table.

"Wasn't changing your mana something that only mages could do?" Hera asked.

"Not quite. Most roles can have 20% of their total mana as elemental mana, but that doesn't lock. So you can keep using fire mana and one day change it to ice. It's just much harder to use that specific mana, while for mages and explorers with the mage skill, the system just does it for you," Helena grabbed a few rocks and put them in a row.

"And how is that different from a mana stone? I have the poison one on me. Can't I just use that to make poison mana?" Hera walked closer to the table.

"Nope, mana stones take mana to change it into something else. These rocks make the mana you pass through them change. If you want, I can teach you how to focus on the type of mana you want, and we can try to figure out the type of mana you have. It will probably be poison," Helena started to look for a specific rock.

"Sure, just promise you are going to eat after this," Hera sat on a chair by the desk.

"I promise," Helena said while she was setting everything up.

"Lena, can I ask you a question about the rampage?"

"Sure, shoot."

"What happens if the clouds turn black? Thomas, Runir's friend, said that we should evacuate, but even he wasn't very sure why."

"Oh, when the clouds go black, it means that something from another room came here. Not like people, but monsters or even a dungeon. Most people don't even know about that because it's so rare, and it already happened in Brinefront. No one knows if it can happen multiple times in the same room. We are probably ok, but... if that happens, we are all running to the doorway."

Hera nodded and kept watching Helena work. After a few moments, she asked one more question, "Lena, if you were that worried about me. Why did you stay in the room when the rampage started? I know they block the doorways so the monsters won't cross over, but they give some time for people who don't want to be here. Don’t they?"

Helena stopped moving the rocks and kept staring at the table, "I... was busy."

"Didn't you get the message on the tablet? I know you like to listen to music during the research, but the notification makes some noise."

"Not in that... I was in the bathroom. When I finally got out, they had already closed the doorways."

"You didn't leave because you were taking a dump?"

"I had spicy food for lunch, ok?" Helena gasped while Hera started laughing