Hera and the girls had a few days before Shane would arrive. Ninleyn had said she would still be away for a few days, but he got that wrong. In fact, she had just returned to the MAZE and was on the way to Boothudurn. It seemed like the room she wanted to search was connected to the Kobold Road, and staying in an actual city before heading out could give them time to talk and organize everything. Still, it would take close to a week for Shane to get here. She was far away and even using the most direct route, there were a lot of rooms for her to traverse.
During that time, a few things happened. More people started arriving at Boothudurn, and the dwarves were extremely happy. Some of the human culture was already spreading, especially TV shows. With the guild's help, Fethy had set up a couple of projectors in a few public places, and people were swarming those areas. It was a great way to get a glimpse of how human society worked. Hera found that kind of cute. It was like they just entered the era of movies and were all going to drive-ins.
When they were not doing dungeons, Hera, Bonnie, and Helena discussed ideas about what they could do to help Helena's research. Using the idea of the modular spell as a base, they were trying to make a spell that could identify the affinity of a creature in a more streamlined way. The affinity sight that Hera was using worked as well, but the version that Helena had created was way too complicated to share. Even Bonnie was having trouble understanding all the formulas. This is why the mage didn't start selling the spell. She needed to make it more user-friendly. So, instead of focusing on the same spell, they were now trying to do something different.
Using the base of the modular elemental spell, they were trying to make it in a way that when the spell touched something, it would identify some of the mana from the target and change it to match that affinity. It was a more invasive way to discover that, but the formulas seemed simpler so far, even if they were still unable to make the spell work properly. Hera helped more during the idea phase of the project, and now that it was mostly about math, she could do little more than just bring them drinks and snacks.
When Shane told them that she should be arriving in two days, Blue also texted that she would be coming back sooner. Apparently, there were some issues with her family, and she decided to come back. Luckily, she would get to Boothudurn one day before Shane, and that would give them a chance to talk.
With everything that was going on, Silah was feeling a bit down. Hera had just come back, and she was already talking about leaving. She waited for them to be alone and asked, "Hey. Do you know where you are going?"
Hera kept playing with Silah's hair, "I still don't know. We need to talk to Shane first."
Silah kept lying on top of her girlfriend while they were on her bed, "Do you know if you are going to be away for a long time?"
"I have no clue. It might be a few days or weeks. But if it takes too long, it's likely that we'll come back every now and then to resupply."
Silah snuggled on Hera's chest, "Are you going to forget me?"
"Hey, what are you talking about? Why would I forget you?"
"Because you will be gone. I get that you will just be in another room, but it still feels weird… and you didn't ask me to go with you."
"Silah… I'm not going to forget you. The reason I didn't ask you to come is that we have to talk with Shane first. And I'm worried about you staying away from your family for a long time. We might not be able to come back quickly."
"I think you see me as more of a child than my mother. I can be away from them without any problems. Even before you showed up, I spent a few months with my ex without even seeing them," Silah scoffed.
"Yeah, but you said it yourself. It feels weird when I'm in a different room. It should be the same with your parents," Hera tried to kiss Silah's forehead, but she got up.
"It won't be. They will be fine and safe while you are in the middle of a random room filled with monsters!" Silah started pacing around the room.
"I won't be alone! And we don't even know if it's going to be a dangerous place. But after talking to Shane, you are the first one that I want to ask to come with me."
"Really?" Silah asked.
"Yeah. Also, I get that you are scared, but we need to talk about that. I love you, but you are a bit too clingy at times. I want to be with you as much as possible, but we need to keep going with our lives. Being an explorer was my dream, and these types of things are exactly what I wanted to do inside the MAZE," Hera sat down on the bed while talking.
"You… love me?" Silah asked.
Hera paused for a moment, "I do. I was thinking that for a while, but yeah, I do. This is really not how I wanted to say it," Hera scratched the back of her head.
"I love you too," Silah smiled and jumped on Hera's arms, giving her a big kiss.
The next day, Blue came back and was surprised by the new house and all the changes that happened in Boothudurn. Alex didn't even know that Blue was coming back. The assassin spent all her time either in the dungeons or at the guild's gym. After Blue got settled in, Helena called Alex over, and the group gathered in the living room.
"Is everything ok at home, Blue?" Bonnie asked.
"Yeah… Me being there started to cause some trouble. After that interview, some random people started showing up at my house, and they kept following me and asking for pictures and a bunch of random questions about the MAZE. I asked around the guild, and they said I should go back to the MAZE. That way, anyone who is searching for me will know that I'm inside. I tried that for a couple of days, and it worked. So I figured I should come back here," Blue explained with a sigh.
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"I'm sorry. That must suck. My dad told me that some people drop by every now and then, but no one went as far as go to his house," Hera patted Blue's back.
"I was fine with all that, but when a reporter started harassing my family, I got pissed. If it weren't for my dad holding me back, I would've beaten the crap out of him. The dude tried to invade our house!"
"Did you press charges?" Bonnie asked.
"I did, but we don't know who it was, so there wasn't much to do there. Before coming back, I hired some security to patrol the neighborhood," Blue turned to Hera, "That's another good thing that came with all of this. I have more than enough money to hire some people. Anyway, what's going on here? Things are already very different."
Understanding that Blue didn't want to talk more about all that, the group told her about the changes in Boothudurn and everything they had found out about the new rooms and the order. It took a while, but by dinner, she was already fully caught up.
"Sooo… there are legacies that stop you from eating meat? Do I have to worry about that too?" she turned to the side.
"Who is she talking to?" Alex asked.
"Her Herald. Did we tell you guys about it? It's like their own personal assistant to deal with the legacy," Hera's voice had a hint of jealousy and Alex just nodded as a reply.
"Oh, good. It doesn't seem like there will be much trouble. Stormcloud told me the only issue I would have is with using some earth element spells. Even in those cases, it's just an increase in mana cost."
"Speaking of which, did you learn anything else about your legacy? You are the first person I know that has one. Well, I mean the first person I'm close to that has one," Helena asked.
"Well.. more or less. Stormcloud needs time to sync with me completely. Right now, only some of my spells and skills can be affected by it. According to them, even basic skills like Observe, Hide or Improved Stamina can be buffed by the legacy."
"Even Observe? How would that happen?" Bonnie tilted her head.
"Well, for one, instead of the blue screen, it would show up as a cloud above whatever I'm seeing. And I can make it appear for everyone," Blue focused on Bonnie and Hera for a moment, and two clouds appeared above them.
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Bonnie Camarel - Researcher - Level 14
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Hera Kingsley - Explorer - Level 18
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You have been Observed
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Skill acquired
Increased Perception
Rank: 1
This skill increases your ability to perceive things around you and allows you to notice when you are under certain effects.
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Hera stared at the new skill window, wondering how often people tried to [Observe] her before.
"This is kind of cool, but I feel exposed," Bonnie covered herself with her jacket.
"Why would you need that? I mean, everyone can use Observe, can't they?" Silah asked.
"The way I see it, this could be good for spies or people who deal with a lot of political drama. If someone is lying about who they are, you can use that skill and show the truth," Helena said.
"You are watching too many dramas," Bonnie sighed.
"Yeah, yeah, that's fine and all. Is there anything else you can do in a fight? I saw what Hera does, but I still don't know how strong you are," Alex got up from the table.
"Honestly. I'm kind of rusty, I think. During the time I was with my family, aside from some light jogging, I didn't work out at all," Blue looked down to her belly, "I think I even got fat."
"So let's go spar at the guild. I want to prove that I'm still faster than you even with that legacy," Alex smiled.
"Yeah, you are good a running, but I bet you still can't hit for shit," Blue got up with a large smile.
"I think I'm going to watch that," Bonnie followed the two.
"Same. I want to see how strong Blue is," Helena went along.
"I'll stay. I want to hang out with Silah," Hera didn't move from her seat.
Silah just waved everyone off and waited for a moment, but Hera was still silently staring at an empty cup on the table. With a sigh, the dwarf asked, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or should I start guessing?"
"It's not that there is something wrong. I… I'm just a horrible person."
"Oh yeah, you are a backstabbing murderer who likes to skin cute dog puppies for fun," Silah rolled her eyes.
"When did you find out about puppies?" Hera smiled.
"Videos of cute animals make up about half of all internet. Of course, I was going to find them. I'm thinking about getting one, but that's not the point. Why are you a 'horrible person?'"
"I'm jealous. Blue only got the legacy because I told her to get the egg. I'm the one who saved her to get here, and I'm the one who was in the front line against the sky ruler for most of the fight. Now, I even have a chance to find a new legacy through the order, and what am I doing? Thinking that Stormcloud should've been mine. I'm awful."
"You are," Silah nodded, "You are awful for leaving me here alone for so long. You are awful for hogging the covers. You are awful for being so tall that I have to jump to kiss you, and you are awful for taking baths that last hours."
"Oh gee, thanks," Hera sighed.
"Let me finish. You are awful for some small things, but that is not one of them. I'm sure everyone is jealous of Blue's legacy. Even I wanted a legacy. Seriously, the only one that we knew about was Risli's. When I was little, I wanted to be her student just to get the legacy, but that only lasted a couple of years. I'm not good with healing stuff," Silah got closer to Hera.
"But I shouldn't be like that. She's my friend. I have to be happy for her!"
"But you already are, aren't you?"
"I am, but…." Hera looked away.
"Is there any rule that says you can't be happy for her and jealous at the same time?"
"I don't think there is," Hera gave up and let her head rest on Silah.
"Then stop beating yourself up. If you think it will help, talk to her. Let her know how you feel, not to make her guilty or anything, just so she can understand and you don't end up stopping being friends."
Hera chuckled, "You are very wise, you know that?"
"It comes with the age, toots."
"Where did you learn that one? People don't use toots anymore. Actually, some might find it offensive. I'm not sure."
"Really?" Silah looked up.
"I don't know. In movies, people who say toots are usually assholes, but I'm not sure if the word itself is a problem."
With that change of subject, Hera managed to distract herself for a while. It was good that Shane would arrive tomorrow, then there would be even less time to worry about her jealousy.