"Bonnie, what happened?" Hera just connected a call to Bonnie. Blue and Alex were by her side, all three of them showing up on the camera.
"I don't know. Since Mark and I are working in Brinefront, we talk a lot and even go out for drinks now and then. A few days ago, he said he was going to gather materials for a big order his workshop got. It was supposed to be just a four-day job, but it's been over a week. He left just after the rampage. The people who work with him lost contact with his group and set up a search quest, but no one is taking it. The reward is too small, and after the rampage, everyone is worried about Wendigos," Bonnie spoke in a hurry.
"Do you know where he went? Or if he was alone?" Hera asked, trying to remain calm, not to freak out Bonnie even more.
"He went with another two crafters. They headed west, towards a place where they can find some turtles," Bonnie explained.
Hera stopped for a moment. Berthellemy, Brinefront's guide, had told her that there was a powerful monster to the west that could help her level up. She assumed he was talking about the wendigo that came after her, but what if it wasn't? What if there was another monster even stronger than the wendigo she faced?
"How far to the west?" Hera asked. If she was going to bring that up, she had to find a way to hide her source. She couldn't say that Berthellemy had told her about the monster.
"The people in the workshop said that it was close to the end of the room, in the snapping turtle territory. Why?"
That was the place where the monster was supposed to be. Hera had to warn them somehow, "It may be nothing. But I heard a rumor a while back that a powerful monster was lurking near the end of the room to the west."
"How long ago? Can you trust that information?" Bonnie's voice cracked as she spoke.
Hera didn't want to lie to her friends, but she didn't have a choice. The guide skill would stop her from saying anything about it or about how she found those things out, "A month? Maybe more, it was before Mark came here. The source is reliable, I think. I got in a Discourse group for explorers, and someone talked about that. They also talked about other things that turned out to be true, like the chameleons on the east and a path I could take on the way back from the pangolins. I can't show the chat since I left the server a while back. It was too distracting."
They stopped talking for a moment, all taking in that information. It was just a rumor, but still, it could be true.
"So we are going, right?" Blue asked.
"Yeah," Hera and Alex replied at the same time.
"Bonnie, hold on. Gather more information about where they are, get the quest if that helps, and wait for us. We'll be there in…" Blue picked her tablet to search for when they could take a boat back to Brinefront.
"Three hours and a half. There is a ship leaving in 20," Alex had just checked the ship's schedule on her tablet.
"Blue, send a message to Runir and Tom, let them know we won't be joining them for a while. I'm going to check with Helena if she has any camping gear that we can borrow," Hera said before getting up, with Bonnie still on her tablet’s screen.
"I can buy those things here," Bonnie said, "That way, I have something to do instead of just staying around waiting."
Hera nodded, "Ok, I'll text you a list of what we need as soon as I can. Try to get some information about the area we are going to. If they have any towers or campsites, the monsters around it, and if the environment can do something to help or hinder us. Anything can help," Hera said, already knocking on the basement door.
"Oh, and tell us if you got any new spells or skills for fighting. Also, how's your armor? If you're still wearing the same ones, go to a blacksmith. I'll pay if you don't have the money as long as you pay me back later," Alex appeared behind Hera and started speaking.
Bonnie just stared at them while Hera called out to Helena, "Since when did you guys turn into the special forces? I mean, holy crap, there is less planning in spy movies."
"I'm coming," Helena yelled from the basement.
"I mean, we were part of a rampage. Alex almost died, and we started working with a guy that acts like a knight and thinks that information is overrated. Call this an overcorrection," Hera said.
"Guys. Runir and Tom said they are coming with. Tom said, and I'm quoting here, 'The noblest of quests is the rescue of a missing ally. You shall have my outmost support during such endeavor.'"
"I mean, you really didn't have to say you were quoting him on that one. No one else talks like that," Alex rolled her eyes.
"Wait, someone actually talks like that?" Bonnie asked.
"You are in for a treat," Hera replied.
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Helena got out of her lab and asked what was going on. Hera told her everything, and the mage picked a few scales from the pangolins, including one that had healing mana for Runir and one with cold mana for Bonnie. Hera thanked her, and the group headed towards the docks. There, they met the rest of their team before boarding the boat heading towards Brinefront. With some help from Helena and Tom, Hera made a list of supplies they would need for the journey, adding some extra medicine since they had no idea what state they would find Mark.
"Guys, I can see you are worried, but let me just say this. You should be prepared for the worst," Runir was sitting on a bench on the boat with the rest of the group, while Blue kept pacing in front of them.
"Are you saying Mark is dead?" Alex stared at him.
"I hope not. I really do, but it is a possibility, and if the monster thing is true, we might find something bad. Team C level bad," Runir replied.
Seeing the 12 bodies covered by white sheets wasn't something that any of them wanted to remember. Yet, they all knew that Runir was right. They could be happy and carefree at times, but life in the MAZE was dangerous, and it didn't take a Wendigo to kill someone. Hera glanced at Alex, thinking about how she got hurt during the last dungeon. Sure, it was in the 2nd layer, and this was the 1st, but the difference wasn’t that big.
On the boat, they only had any reception on their tablets at certain intervals. During those, Bonnie sent them all the information she gathered about the place where they were going. It was the giant snapping turtles' habitat, but according to her, their sizes would vary from 60 centimeters to 2 meters long. After reading that, the entire team let out a relieved sigh. None of them was confident enough to face another of the three-meter-tall snapping turtle without some serious backup. The area was also filled with large ponds where the monsters lived. Behind them, there were several small caves where some of the larger turtles would stay.
Aside from the turtles, the group would cross frog, toad, and newt territories. According to the intel, these monsters would have similar abilities and appearances as those on the rampage. It would take a day and a half to reach the area, and there was an open area perfect for camping on the way.
Hera was amazed by the detailed information that Bonnie gathered in the couple of hours since they talked. She didn’t send just a paragraph of text but a file with detailed maps, even specifying the area's elevation, pages with the habits and skills of each species of monster, as well as some variations. If this was a school paper, no teacher would give her less than an A.
Bonnie also told Alex that the only armor she found that fitted her and it was better than the one she was wearing was 5 000 gold, and she wouldn't get something so expensive. Alex instantly sent her the money, plus another 1 000 for her to buy the camping supplies. Hera and Blue insisted on splitting the cost of both the armor and the supplies. They could get money more easily now, but it was still a lot of money to spend by herself on something that they all were doing. The three didn't mention that to Runir or Tom. They were already being kind enough to help. The least they could do was to take care of the bill.
Three and a half hours later, they got off in Brinefront. Bonnie was waiting for them by the docks, wearing her new leather armor, made with crocodile skin, and carrying all the supplies they would need for camping. After a quick introduction, the now complete party headed to the west gate. Everything could be fine with Mark, and he just got lost, or the gathering took longer than expected. However, in the worst-case scenario, this could be a race against the clock making every second count.
Ten minutes after they had left the city, Bonnie asked, "Shouldn't we be running?"
Hera shook her head, "That's a bad idea. If we run, we will have more breaks and will take longer to reach Mark. We need to keep a steady pace. Besides, I think you would be the first one to get tired and ask us to stop."
Bonnie frowned, "And why is that? Are you all investing in endurance or something?"
"Not really, but our improved stamina increased two ranks or one in Blue's case," Alex explained.
"What? Really? All of you?" Bonnie looked around.
"Yes, noble scholar. They all have achieved a higher rank of endurance," Tom said.
"How about you?" Bonnie asked.
"He's our cheat. A level 8 fighter who has over a year of experience in here, his improved stamina is at rank 5 already," Blue added.
"Really? And how did you meet him?"
"It was all thanks to Runir. They've met in middle school, right?" Alex turned to Runir.
"Yep. He was one year ahead of me, but we got close because of some dude that kept trying to beat me up. I never had any trouble to deal with him on my own, but when he brought his friends, Tom joined in to make this fair," Runir gave Tom a fist bump.
"That I didn't know. How the hell did you end up as a healer?" Blue asked.
"Blue!" Bonnie stared daggers at her.
"What?"
"Relax, I knew how to fight because of my mom. She insisted that I took some self-defense classes growing up. Not gonna lie. They came in handy. But in reality, I always wanted to help people. My mom is a doctor/shaman. She travels to various tribes around America to practice both medicine and spiritual healing," Runir noticed Tom's stare, "Yeah, yeah. I know you don't believe in that stuff. I'm not sure if I believe that myself, but it helps people. Most of the time..."
There was a slight pause before Alex asked, "So you want to follow your mom's footsteps?"
"More or less. Sometimes I helped her out, and I gotta say. That was good for the soul."
"Ok. And you Tom why are you still here? Shouldn't you be deeper in the MAZE? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you are here, but I want to know who I'm working with," Bonnie turned to Thomas.
Tom let out a loud laugh, "You have not lied to me. This one is a scholar to the core," he cleaned his throat, "As my dear squire said. We became quite close during our young years. We both had decided to take the noble duty of an explorer during highschool. Since I became one a year sooner than Runir, I decided to wait for him before venturing deep into this labyrinth. My initial objective was to stay here, in Brinefront. Alas, the challenge became too little for my abilities, and I craved for more. After a talk with him, we agreed that I should wait for him in the next room. Since he also desired to take his first steps on his own."
"That's only part of the reason. I was making sure he didn't waste too much time for nothing here. I mean, we had no idea if I could be an explorer. Not to mention that he was doing some dumb shit and calling it training," Runir added.
"My friend, you hurt me. My training was far from idiotic, and it yielded incredible results."
"I'll give you the idea of using your left hand to hold the sword. But fighting blindfolded was just stupid."
"Sharpening one's senses is never a foolish endeavor," Tom replied.
"Dude! You were doing that on your own! How many times you texted me that you ended up in the infirmary?"
"That is not ..."
"Guys, sorry to interrupt, but we have company," Hera cut them off when a group of five frogs jumped out of the forest and rushed at them.