Ryan was passed out on the ground. Bill was still as a corpse in the air mattress. Hera and Runir were looking around the room, trying to figure out what to do.

"I mean, we can't like, leave that here, can we?" Runir asked, pointing at Ryan.

"I don't think it's a good idea. If we leave him alone, I bet he will use Bill as a hostage," Hera replied.

"Great, now what do we do?" Runir huffed.

Hera stared at the eggs. If the turtle was fighting them because of those, maybe they could give it back, and the creature would let them go. However, it was just a monster. There was no way to be sure that it would work.

"But it's eyes…" Hera mumbled.

"His eyes have something weird?" Runir looked at Bill.

"Not, not him. The turtle. It seemed really smart, like smarter than a normal monster. I'm wondering if we can negotiate with it," Hera explained.

"You mean, we give you the eggs, and it let us go?"

"Yeah, more like. We give it the eggs and stop being aggressive, and it understands that we don't need to kill each other."

Runir considered it for a moment, "That's risky. How can we show that?"

Hera looked back at the eggs, "I have an idea, but it's a really bad one."

"Do you wanna share it with the rest of the class?"

"Are you going to stop me?"

"Probably."

"Then, no. Just stay here to make sure Ryan doesn't act like an ass anymore," Hera grabbed the three turtle eggs on the floor, keeping them in one of her arms by her chest.

"I'll stay by the entrance. That way, if you get in trouble, I can do something," Runir said.

"If? Not when?" Hera chuckled.

"I'm trying to be positive here. Give me a break."

Hera walked out of the bunker with the eggs in hand. Runir stood by the entrance, where he could see both her and the two inside the cave. She walked carefully, not to hurt the eggs. Moving towards the combat, she called out to the group.

"Guys, fall back for a bit."

"What?" Blue asked, dodging a bite.

"Stop fighting for a moment."

"Are you crazy?" Alex shouted.

"Maybe. We'll see," Hera turned to the turtle, "Hey, I got your eggs here."

Tu'nia tried to attack Blue once more, but the attack went wide as she jumped back. The turtle's nostrils started to flare as it sniffed the area and turned to face Hera. The explorer was with one hand up and the eggs resting on her left arm.

"It's ok. Your babies are fine. We don't have to fight anymore," Hera walked slowly towards the turtle, ready to run if things went south. The turtle moved towards her, staring her down with its mouth open. The two stopped when they were about five meters away from each other. Tu'nia looked back at the rest of the group and then to Hera, furrowing its brown the best it could.

"Guys, walk back to the trees slowly. And don't get between us," Hera said without breaking eye contact with the monster.

"But.."Blue started.

"Blue, let's go," Alex said. Hera's idea was crazy, but it seemed to be working, or at least doing something.

They made a wide arc and moved towards the tree line. All staying far behind Hera but still ready to come back to the fight. The turtle stared them down, but its gaze kept going back and forth between them and the eggs. Hera could feel her heart beating fast. Her entire plan was based on the idea that the monster would either forgive them after getting the eggs or that it would be too worried about its babies to keep fighting. The rest of the team members took a long time to move away from the turtle. They were trying not to make any sudden moves, and Alex's back was almost reaching the wall in the edge of the room. In reality, it took less than two minutes for her to get through the treeline, but the tension in the air made it seem much longer for all of those watching.

Runir started to get restless when the noise of the combat stopped. He couldn't see Hera from the entrance of the bunker, and if that turtle attacked her, there was no way to put up a barrier. He looked back at Ryan, who was still unconscious. He had hit him pretty hard, and he was already in bad shape. He should be out for a few minutes, at least. Leaving the cave, Runir got an angle to what was going on. Hera and Tu'nia were staring at each other just a few meters apart, while Tom and the rest watched from the back.

Hera lowered her body, kneeling to the ground, and carefully picked one of the eggs. She only glanced towards the turtle when she touched them. The monster puffed its nostrils even more, but kept staring her down. The light reflected by the clouds made it seem like Hera was looking up towards a dinosaur. She placed the first egg on the ground, making sure it wouldn't even move after releasing the baby. The last thing she needed now was the turtle getting mad for her clumsiness. One by one, the eggs left her arms and were placed on the earth beneath the turtle's feet.

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After placing the third and final egg, Hera raised both her hands and stared back at the turtle, "They are all here. I'm very sorry that they stole them from you."

Tu'nia approached Hera, but as the explorer tried to walk back, the turtle snapped its jaws towards her. Runir and the others flinched but quickly realized that it wasn't an attack but a warning. Hera held her breath with the turtle's movement, thankful it was still too far to reach her. Tu'nia took a couple more steps forward and sniffed the eggs, then it started smelling Hera. The large beak-like mandible getting dangerously close to her face. Hera focused her strength on her legs. If that thing made one wrong move, she would use [All in] to jump back. Yet, the attack didn't come. The massive head of the turtle was inches from Hera’s. Its thick leathery skin wrinkled around the large black beady eye. Tu'nia moved its head down and took the three eggs into its mouth.

The monster stood up and started at Hera. They exchanged a look for a moment before it lowered its head in a bow like motion. Only then it started walking past the human in front of it, heading towards the forest.

There was silence for a long time while the group watched Tu'nia walk away. Only when the monster was out of their view was that Hera lost all her strength in her legs, falling to her knees.

"Holy shit, are you ok?" Blue was the first to run towards her.

"Not really. I think I need to check my underwear," Hera smiled with her eyes still wide open.

"Not just you, trust me."

"How did you know that thing wouldn't attack you?" Alex asked.

"I didn't, but it seemed smarter than most monsters. When we fought, it looked around to understand its surroundings rather than as a reaction to movement. I don't think mindless monsters would act like that," Hera explained.

"Ok, that's a nice theory, but when did you test it?" Bonnie asked.

"Just now."

Tom let out a resounding laugh, "I believe that proves that you are the bravest among us all."

"You spelled out stupid wrong Tom," Alex stared at Hera.

"Well, people say that stupidity and bravery walk side by side, don't they?" Blue replied.

The group helped Hera up and walked towards Mark. Now that the danger had passed, Hera and Runir explained what happened and how the eggs were in Bill's bag and how Ryan attacked them as he tried to flee.

Mark slammed his fist against a tree, "That little shit must have hidden the egg in Bill's bag."

"Are you sure Bill wasn't the one who took them?" Alex asked.

"There is no way. Bill is the most stand-up guy in the workshop. He's been working there for years, and everyone loves him," Mark shook his head and looked towards where Tu'nia headed, "Next time I'm here, I'm bringing bags of straws."

The entire group stared at him with horrified expressions.

"DUDE!" Blue gasped.

"That's really messed up," Hera nodded in agreement.

"You need some therapy," Alex took a step away from him.

"Well, it's not like it would work, anyway. The straws are for sea turtles. Tortoises should be cans of soda or something that they would eat by mistake and get sick," the collective stare of the group turned to Bonnie.

"Why do you know so much about that?" Alex asked.

"We just meet, but that sounds like you were planning something. Should we call someone?"

"No, no, no. That was just part of my research!" Bonnie defended herself.

"Right, your 'research,'" Blue managed to say the line holding back her laughter.

Free of the tension of the last moments, the group felt much more relaxed. Sure, they were still in a place filled with monsters, but unlike Tu'nia, those would take damage when they fought. Hera got up and walked over to the cave and Runir to make sure Ryan didn't wake up, and the man was still passed out. They dismantled part of the barricade, allowing Runir to create a stretcher out of rock and take Bill out of the bunker. He struggled a bit to change the bandages on the crafter. Needing to stop and look away several times to avoid throwing up.

"You do have a weak stomach," Alex teased.

"Shut up. The smell is getting to me, and to all of you, or you wouldn't be that far away."

Everyone looked away. The smell coming from Bill wasn't something they could easily deal with. Not just because of the wound, but the man had soiled himself a couple of time. Runir could have cleaned him using one of his spells, but it would take too much mana, so he focused on cleaning the wound. A full body wiping would have to come later. The healer was able to dress the wound with clean bandages and remove part of the pus that has oozed from it, but it was emergency care at best. The infection had spread in a way that it was impossible to treat it on site. Not to mention that Bill looked awful. He lost a lot of blood, and his breathing was way too slow. He asked the group to set him up on the stretcher while he took care of Mark's ankle. They already had to carry two people. Having a third one wasn't an option.

During the treatment, Ryan woke up in a frenzy, searching for the eggs. However, it took but a moment to make him stop complaining. He was heavily outnumbered, and no one was willing to fight Tu'nia for the eggs. If he chose to fight, there was not much he could do against a party consisting of most roles as a crafter if he couldn't even neutralize the healer.

Despite the obvious hostility, the group had to bring Ryan back. It was part of the quest they got, and even Mark was against leaving him behind. They would take turns carrying Bill while Runir would walk by him using his heals to hold back the infection. Luckily for them, they still could reach the campsite before dark, even if getting back to Brinefront in a single day was impossible. Mark was too tired to make the trip and carrying someone wasn't an easy task.

Even so, the group was still lively. They talked to Mark about what they had seen in the Carpon Caves, and Hera even showed off her armor. She wore the ear guards he gifted her every day, and that made Mark smile. It was a good thing that something he created was being so helpful.

Arriving at the campsite, they set up camp. This time, 2 people would stay as a lookout at a time. However, they didn't have the numbers for that. Runir would need to keep waking up sporadically to check on Bill, so one shift would be made alone. The night went without a hitch, but when morning came, the group discovered the Ryan had left the camp while they slept. No one blamed Tom, who was the one that took the solo shift. They spent the early morning searching for him, but his tracks were leading towards the path to Brinefront.

"I bet he’s going first to spin a whole story about how we are the ones that stole the egg," Mark scoffed when they found the tracks.

"It’s not like it will make a difference. I mean, we have seven testimonials against one," Hera tried to cheer him up.

Most of the next day was spent on the road. A couple of stray monsters appeared to be a nuisance, but nothing that the group couldn't easily deal with. What once was a fight to the death had become little more than training. That was proof of their experience.

A couple of hours before the sunset, Hera finally saw the large walls that surrounded Brinefront. Bill and Mark were both still alive. Even if in bad shapes. In the end, they had completed their rescue quest.