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Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 19

Stats:

Strength: 50 Endurance: 50

Agility: 50 Charisma: 50

Intelligence: 50 Luck: 50

Mana: 9450/9450

Remaining attribute points: = 48

Skills:

Passive:

Exponential Growth

Observe: Red sight 3

Treasure Map

Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Wire Trap Style 2, Subtle Strike 3

Dodge 2, Run 2, Improved Stamina 4, Flee, Jump 2

Mana Recovery 4

Improved Regeneration 3

Ailment Mastery 3

Poison Mastery

Wind resistance 2

Mana sensitivity 2

Nature connection

Silver Lining

Shaper of Mana

Reinforced Mana

Ancient language 2

Naga poison

Active:

All in 2

Inspect 2

Hide 3, Sneak Attack 3

Local Guide, Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2

Etching 2

Medical Reference 2

Green Thumb

Chain of Command 2

Role Skills:

Explorer's Assassinate

Explorer's Map

Hunter's Catalogue

Explorer's Hunt

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"Holy crap," Hera gasped, seeing how many attribute points she got.

"Got some good stuff?" Blue asked.

"No, I leveled up and got almost 50 points. That's ridiculous."

"How many are you used to getting?" Leo turned to her.

"I don't know. The base amount plus 5 or 6 points? Not my level on just bonuses," Hera explained.

"Really? I guess that's why I always felt that my stats weren't that different from yours," Alex scratched her chin.

"You are used to getting this many attribute points?" Hera turned to the assassin.

"Not almost 50, but something like 35 to 40."

"Well, do you know where you are distributing them?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. I'm using my skill to raise them all. So from 50, I'll get to 54 across the board."

Leo sighed, "I forgot about that cheat skill."

"You can get it too. Just make all your attributes match. At least that's how the guild told me it works," Hera suggested completely forgetting the need for the [Stat Reallocation] skill.

After increasing her attributes, Hera looked at the reward she got from the dungeon.

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Smelling Salts

By opening this container, you can wake someone up even if they are under the influence of a magical effect. Only works for people who are sleeping.

Uses: 5/5

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It wasn't the most exciting item she ever got, but at least it was something. Blue got something similar, some eye drops that could make someone have a better night of rest. It could be useful in more situations than just when someone needed to be up. Especially since, by the wording of it, the smelling salts wouldn't work in people who were in any sort of stasis, coma, or any other type of sleep-like issue. Alex got something a bit more interesting. It was a small vial with a blue liquid that could allow her to let out mist from her body. It could cover an area 10 meters wide and 3 meters tall depending on the location that could be a great tool for hiding or setting up an ambush. However, the best of the bunch ended up being Leo. He got a simple item. A nightcap, blue and white stripes with a puffy, fuzzy ball of fur on edge. Odd, yes, but the interesting part was its effects. It would allow the wearer to become more friendly with the sleep sprites, and there was no restriction to it. Meaning it was a perfect tool to use to get an elemental spirit.

Leo wasn't that interested in getting a spirit partner, and the nightcap didn't seem to be exclusively his. He could, for one-pass it to someone else and let them try to get the spirit to make a contract with them. Hera and Alex discussed the possibility of getting one, but unless they knew how long it should take, even with the 'make Sleep Sprites more friendly towards you' buff, it was hard to make a decision. In the end, they left the dungeon and returned to the research center. They had a quest to report about the dungeon there and to add to that, there were some questions they wanted to ask about Leo's reward.

There was a bit of a frenzy when Camila saw the nightcap and gasped loudly when reading the description, the researchers swarming over it, wanting to use it for their own projects. Leo quickly snatched back, reminding everyone that this was his reward and if they wanted even a chance of using that item after he was done, he had some questions first. The Q&A was short. The people from the research center were all eager to please the man who had such an incredible item. According to them, the nightcap would help them start a relationship with the sprites, but it shouldn't do much more than that. It was good since having that initial connection was the hardest part. The rest was just being nice to them and making sure to keep in touch. It still was possible to take months or years to get a contract, but with the item, it was probable that one could skip the first part. After some insistence, Leo agreed to let them 'borrow' it to test its abilities. They wrote down a small agreement that the item still belonged to Leo and that he should be informed of any development about it. There was also a fee of 20 thousand gold per month for the research center as collateral. Since, after all, Leo would be the one losing time to get his own elemental spirit. Hera had to hold back a smile when the hunter said that. He had no intention of getting a spirit, but the researchers didn't need to know that.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Before he offered the lease, Leo checked with Hera and Alex since they seemed to be interested in having an Elemental Spirit, but it would take too long to get one, and Hera, for one, had no intention of being stuck in a place for so long. After that, the group headed back to their hotels. The dungeon was interesting, but none of them wanted to deal with the Dream Invaders again, and Hera was missing one weapon. She dropped by the guild to ask around for a new one, even if it was just a temporary thing, but there were no hand axes available. Trying to order one would take at least a week for the delivery, or if she wanted to pay a premium of about half the price of the weapons, she could get it in two days. Hera might have money right now, but she knew when she was swindled, even by a large organization. Instead, she just looked around the available stock and picked a slightly curved short sword. Something that could be seen in those pirate movies being used by the imperial fleet or something.

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Curved Saber - Blood

Common

A mass-produced weapon that can become stronger as it gets bloodied.

Attribute scaling:

Charisma x 1.2

Endurance x 1.3

Weapon skill: Strength in Blood.

The more blood is drawn by the weapon, the stronger it gets. If the wielder's blood passes through the entire length of the blade, the full bonus is triggered at once.

Max bonus 40%

Current bonus 0%

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The weapon was a bit too vampiric for Hera's tastes, but everything else was too expensive or barely had any scaling. Hera wanted a temporary weapon, but she didn't want to be crippled by it. She paid the 8 thousand gold for the saber and headed back to her party. After a brief discussion, everyone agreed that tomorrow they would head out to the Wailing Valley and back to the Naga hero's tomb. Unless the guild had set up a better way of transportation, they would have to sleep in the bunker again, but this time things should be easier.

"How are things going to be easier? We still have to deal with that horde of insects," Blue asked.

"I didn't tell you? Shane and the guild already cleared that up. Since we found the crypts of kings, there was a considerable amount of interest in looking around there for treasure or anything, and there was a quest to clear out the monsters from the graveyard. According to Shane, most monsters are gone, including the Jeweled Hunter. That spider with the colorful eyes. Also, it seems like someone high level is going there to check the snake. People are still being careful and made some to see if it was hostile, but no one figured out the level just yet," Hera explained.

"What tests?" Alex asked.

"They captured a spider and used it as bait, dangling it from the abyss. Nothing happened until someone cut the cord and dropped it on top of the snake. That's when it attacked, jumping out of the mist and staring at the people in the valley, but it didn't do anything. Just went back to the mist," Hera said.

"I mean, a giant snake is annoying, but that's it, right?" Leo turned to Hera.

"You don't get it. Giant doesn't begin to describe it. I'm sure it could swallow a building whole and not even unhinge its jaw. That thing is beyond huge," Alex gasped.

"Excuse me," A voice came from behind Leo, "Sorry to bother, but are you talking about the snake in the Wailing Valley?"

The group looked back and saw a man with goggles on his head, atop a beanie with a soft stubble, all clad in brown leather with wool around its neck. He also had heavy boots and a silver rapier with an orange gem on the pommel hanging from his waist. Hera looked down and saw the man wearing sandals, and his feet were red. It seemed like he just came out of a really hot shower. Odd since the bathrooms were in each room in the hotel here. Unless the man came from the guild and used the facilities near the gym.

"Yeah, why?" Blue changed her demeanor from relaxed to alert.

"Oh, I got called to double-check on that report. If you are not busy could I ask you some questions about it? The more I know them better, and having someone who was actually there give me some details could help a lot," the man rummaged through his bag and pulled up his tablet. After a few touches, he turned it around and showed to the group, "Here is the quest that I was given."

The group glanced at the screen, and yeah, that was a standard guild quest. However, it asked for a gold card, meaning that this had to be someone they trusted. Hera, Alex, and Blue agreed to talk to the man, who introduced himself as Sebastian and gave a bit too much personal information right from the get-go. He was from Somalia, or at least his family was. He was born in the US, but his mother got pregnant before leaving his home country, which made him a full-on Somalian, according to him. He was an explorer with a considerable amount of years behind him, and he was level 67, able to [Observe] anything up to level 80, even if they had skills to hide that. The goggles on his head were his relic, but he didn't expand on that. He also stayed clear of his fighting prowess. Maybe it was just to be safe, or maybe he wanted to hide something. It was hard to tell. On the other hand, he had no trouble saying how he had this recurring nightmare of waking up, and suddenly he had holes on the side of his cheeks.

It was hard not to be swept by the man's high energy, but thanks to his constant over-sharing, no one felt inclined to say more than they should. Still, everyone agreed to stop by a coffee shop and answer his questions. Leo decided to go with everyone since he was also curious about the snake. A few hours passed, and Sebastian had no more questions to ask. He was going to the next room on the following day, so there was a good chance that they would meet up again. The party decided to head back to the hotel and just rest for a while. Before going to the elevator, Hera stopped and told them she was going to the guild. It's been a while since she used a sword, and she wanted to train a bit to get used to her weapon. Just as she turned around, a notification appeared in front of her.

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Skill acquired

Private Room

Role Skill

When touching a doorway, you can enter a private room where you will find a bed, a bathroom, and a table in an 8m² area. You can invite up to 4 people to enter the room with you and customize the room as you please.

Entering and exiting the room counts as crossing a single doorway, not two.

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"What the…" Hera stared at the notification. Why did she get a skill now?

"Holy shit! This is awesome," Blue gasped.

"Fuck me, that's good," Alex was scratching her chin.

"Does that also affect Tiger?" Leo thought loudly.

"Wait, what happened? Did you guys just got skills too?" Hera asked.

"Too? You got one?" Blue looked around, seeing everyone nod.

Hera heard some gasps and people talking, and at a quick glance, it seemed like they weren't the only ones who got a skill. A guild clerk who was just hanging out in the lobby quickly jumped to his feet and asked, "Did everyone just get a role skill? Raise your hands if you did."

There wasn't a single person without a hand up after the question.

"Did everyone get a new skill? Like 'everyone,' everyone?" Blue asked.

"What the hell is going on?" Hera kept looking around, completely at a loss.