"So, did you find anything out today?" Hera asked.

"Just that people here don't talk about their relationships openly. I asked if Sevaris was dating anyone, and he got all weirded out when I asked. Later he asked me to join him in the break room, and there he told me he is courting someone but didn't give any more details. Well.. details about him. At least," Blue sighed, "These people are going to love reality TV. He spent half an hour gossiping about everyone. Who is dating who, where people are sneaking to hook up, and the couples who broke up. He also said that we shouldn't ask about those kinds of things. That subject is supposed to be kept in private."

"Why is that? Is there a law or something?"

"No, nothing like that. They just get uncomfortable, kind of like asking how much is your paycheck but more intense. By the looks of it, even couples don't show affection when outside. Seriously, they don't even hold hands."

Hera stopped to think for a moment, "You know, I had a weird feeling when we walk around. It was like something was missing. I guess that's it. The people here are friendly, but they don't show physical affection. Seriously, have you seen anyone even shaking hands?"

"Wow, you are right. The only time I see two people touching is when they are fighting. Even kids stay away from each other," Blue took a sip from the ale they had gotten for dinner, "Oh, this is kind of good."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that fungi beer was this good," Hera nodded.

"Right and did you find anything?"

"Nothing useful. To get their roles, they go to the entrance of the Wooly Plains, then they get the role test. It wasn't in the doorway like we hoped. Silah doesn't know much about the sky ruler either, only that it has a sharp cry and wings," Hera explained.

"So, nothing that can help us. Great," Blue got up to refill her cup but stopped midway, sitting back on the chair and closing her eyes in pain.

"Are you ok? Want me to call Risli?" Hera quickly got up, getting closer to Blue.

"I'm fine. Just some cramps. It's been a while since I had one this bad."

"Are you going to be ok? Tomorrow we were supposed to go to the dungeon, but if you are not feeling well, I can ask Naka to postpone it."

"Yeah, I'm sure she's going to love that."

"If she doesn't like it, it's her problem. I'm not going without you, and if your cramps are that bad, I don't want you near anything dangerous. You have my permission to skip training," Hera refilled Blue's cup.

"Thanks, mom," Blue chuckled, receiving a stern look from Hera, "Oh, don't look at me like that. You are a nice mom friend. Not all mothers suck like yours."

"Yeah, yeah. Thank the system for that," Hera rolled her eyes.

They ate and headed to bed. Blue took one of the painkiller potions that Risli left her for her foot before going to sleep. Hera entered her room and checked her tablet. She started writing a journal with all the info they gathered about the room, but it was still nowhere near enough to give them a glimpse of where they could find the key for the doorway. At least the week wasn't entirely wasted. Both Blue and her managed to learn a skill for the martial arts that the guards taught them. Silah was an incredible teacher. She understood the moveset that Hera already knew and used that as a base for showing how the Subtle Strike would work. For Blue, it didn't take any incredible insight. The controller already had some knowledge of martial arts, and the instructions given by Sevaris were everything she needed to unlock the skill.

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

Subtle Strike – Beginner

A fighting style that focuses on interrupting the opponent's movements.

It requires knowledge not only about the anatomy of your enemy but its attack patterns as well in order to be effective.

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

It was simple, but at the same time, it required a lot of work to make it useful. Hera thought that it could be incredible when doing a dungeon to train. If she used this fighting style in the Underground Forest, there was a good chance she could take advantage of the skills she learned. It also seemed like an excellent thing to pair up with the hunter role skill. Maybe she could consider that one after getting her mage role.

The following day, Hera woke up and prepared some breakfast. It didn't take long for Blue to come out of her bedroom, but her cramps got worse. As they discussed during the previous day, Blue would stay in the house, and Hera would tell Naka that they had to delay their dungeon mission. Before going to the guard, Hera stopped by Risli and asked her to check on Blue later.

Arriving at the guard headquarters, the group who would head to the dungeon was already getting ready to leave. Silah was by the armory checking everyone's equipment while Naka gave instructions to the group.

Hera took a deep breath and approached the captain, "Excuse me, captain."

Naka raised her hand, signaling for Hera to wait, and kept talking with the group. She was just making sure their supplies and bags were ready for the trip. It wasn't a common occurrence for the captain to participate in the dungeon. They had shifts every week, with 15 people going for supply runs. Among the 15 people, 3 would be senior guards who were above level 30.

Stolen story; please report.

After finishing her discussion, Naka turned to Hera, "What do you want?"

"Blue and I will be out of this dungeon," Hera replied.

"Why? Are you afraid? Are you telling me that all that resolve you two had is already gone?"

Hera frowned, "Are you going to let me explain the reason?"

"Sure, tell me your excuse."

"Blue is having menstrual cramps, and I'm not going without her."

Naka stopped for a moment, "I see. It is unfortunate but understandable. Tell her to rest for the next couple of weeks. I assume your cycle doesn't last more than 21 days, correct?"

"What? 21 days? No, she'll be fine tomorrow or the day after. Why would she take weeks off because of this?" Hera asked.

"A cycle lasts for 14 to 21 days. You are a woman. How do you not know that?" Naka scoffed.

"Hold up. You spend three weeks having your period? We spend 3 to maybe 7 days if we are unlucky. Blue's started yesterday, but it wasn't as bad as today," Hera explained.

"She was training during her cycle? That's… impressive," Naka said.

"Wait, seriously? Was that why her punches were harder yesterday?" Silah asked.

"She was stronger during the cycle?" Naka's eyes went wide.

"Sevaris kept complaining that she had some sudden bursts of strength," Silah nodded to the dwarf behind them.

"I did see Lerynn treating him yesterday. You are telling me that not only she did she manage to fight the entire day but even injured someone several levels stronger?" Naka asked.

"Yeah. We can't just drop everything for a few days every month. Sometimes it gets worse, and we have to take a break like Blue is doing today, but that's rare."

"Wow, that's amazing! We can't move around that well during our cycle, but what do you mean every month? It's not a yearly thing for you?" Silah gasped. Other female guards were joining in the conversation, asking about the differences and what the humans used not to bleed everywhere.

Hera explained how things were for her during that time of the month as best she could. She also noticed that the women talked about it very openly, more than what she was used to. It had been some years since human women started to be more open about their needs, but it seemed like that was never an issue here. Still, the men had the same reaction as she expected. They got uncomfortable, embarrassed, and quickly left the area.

Naka let the group talk for a while. Even she was interested in knowing how the humans dealt with her periods, but that didn't take long. The captain ushered everyone to get their things and head to the dungeon.

"Silah, you can stay behind if you want. Since your training partner is not going to join us, you two might as well keep sparring."

"I'll do that," Silah replied. It was the first time they would be alone together, and she had some questions about life outside the city.

This was the first time Hera arrived so early at the headquarters, so she didn't know how intense the preparation for the dungeon was. They had carts with several weapons and hundreds of metal baskets used to carry the meat and supplies they got from the monsters. It was like the preparation for a massive camping trip, but apparently, they would do that every day, leaving the building mostly empty for the entire morning. Only a couple of guards stayed there, dealing with paperwork and with anyone that showed up asking for assistance.

Silah and Hera waited for everyone to leave the arena and organized the things left behind. In just a couple of minutes, they were already sparring once more. Both of them understood each other's strength, and although Hera had yet to win a single bout, she could feel the improvement in her technique. Since they had more space to move around, Silah told Hera to use her Wire Trap style along with the Subtle Strike. They had yet to test how both the martial arts worked together. The result was good, even if a bit clumsy. Hera couldn't make a natural change between the two styles, and her stance for the Subtle Strike was still too stiff.

They dueled until it was time for lunch. Hera was still unable to win a single bout, but now she was able to hit Silah's armor a couple of times. It was to be expected. Not only was the dwarf 8 levels higher, but she also had the Subtle Strike skill at an intermediary level. One thing Hera found interesting was how the skill changed the way she moved. Before getting it, she couldn't tell if a move was correct or not, but now it was like the system was guiding her. Every time she strayed from the position her body should be in, there was this intense feeling of doing something wrong. According to Silah, the more the skill increased, the smaller the range of the movement would be before getting that feeling, creating attacks with less and less wasted energy. However, at higher ranks, the feeling would disappear completely, allowing one to tweak and change the style according to the situation. Learning new moves on your own was possible, but very complicated. You had to get into a stance and search for positions that felt natural and then try to follow that path. It was much easier to have someone who is already well versed in the martial art to show the attacks.

At lunchtime, Silah invited Hera to eat with her. The two humans would always arrive, eat and leave together. This could be one of the few opportunities she had to interact with her outside the training.

Hera was worried about Blue, but there wasn't anything she could do to help. Her mend spell would barely do something and could even make it worse. Still, it was better to make sure. Hera picked her communicator and tried to reach Blue, but got no response. It wasn't much of a surprise. Even if they knew it was still working, they hadn't tested while inside the city, not for long distances at least.

"Sure, is there a restaurant nearby, or we need to pick food from the storage?" Hera asked.

"There is a lovely place a few streets down. There is another place in the corner, but it's always full of guards and is very noisy. I thought we could take a froster place," Silah looked at Hera, "Did I say it right?"

"Close, it's chiller, not froster, and you should say a more chill place," Hera replied with a smile.

They were heading out of the building when a guard called Silah.

"Hey, did something happen yesterday?" the guard asked.

"Not really. Why?" Silah replied.

"You never showed up for your shift in the forge. There are a lot of boxes of equipment that need some maintenance. Can you do it today? I don't think the dungeon team will have a place to leave their weapons later."

"Oh no! I completely forgot about that. I'll be right on it," Silah turned to Hera, "I'm really sorry. I have to clean that place up before the captain, and the rest arrive. Since we've been training, I forgot about the forge. It must be a mess there. Can we leave lunch for another day?"

"Sure, it's not like I'm going anywhere so soon," Hera nodded, and Silah rushed outside to the building to the side of the headquarters.

Hera watched her run towards the forge and mumbled, "So, where do I eat now?"