"OK, what did you guys get? I'm curious," Hera asked.
"I got something called tactical view. I still need to check the constraints, but basically, it's like having a drone around us to look at the area. And I might be able to cast spells through that in different places," Blue explained.
"I got sneak as a role skill. Now the buff to hide is much better, and the debuff for being seen only affects my sneak attack and the first three non-magical attacks that I do to anything. I'm pretty sure I can still use magic without any issues, and I might be able to cheese that by attacking something random," Alex was already making plans for her new skill.
"What about you, Leo?" Blue turned to the hunter.
"This is weird. The skill I got is called Hunter Survival. It helps me find good places for camping, food, water, and medicine in the wilderness, and it also lets me ignore some effects of hunger, thirst, and lack of sleep. The weird part is that it tried to clarify that. Saying that this doesn't increase how long I can stay without food, water, etc. It just lets me pretend like I'm not starving for longer. Since when does the system give that kind of information?" Leo scratched his head.
"And what is the thing about Tiger?" Hera asked.
"Oh, I can share some of my passives with him. Not things like observe or something to do with crafting, but improved strength and stamina go to him. I'm wondering if this also works," Leo shook his head and changed the subject, "By the way, I didn't know you had the Chain of Command skill, Hera."
"Chain of Command?" Hera asked. She remembered the name because she had just seen it on her status screen, but she couldn't remember what it actually did.
"Yeah, that's how you spoke in our heads, right? If I knew you could do that, I would've tagged you as the party leader, just to activate it," Leo explained.
"Oh, that one! Yeah, I keep forgetting I have it, and with the communicators, I don't see the need to use it."
"You should. It's really good and has some really powerful party buffs later on. That's rare for skills, but getting that one is a pain in the ass. You have to order people around and have them start following what you said in less than half a second. They also have to trust you completely at that moment, willing to even jump into lava at your command, and that's the tricky part," as Leo spoke, Hera glanced at Blue. She never imagined that her friend trusted her so much. After all, Hera got the skill while leading Blue and a team of dwarves back in Boothudurn.
"What's your skill?" Blue asked Hera, trying not to linger on that subject.
"Right, I got something called Private Room. I can have like a hotel room inside a doorway, and people can even come with me. Although, I'm not entirely sure how this all works. Actually, I kind of want to test it out," Hera glanced at the exit.
"Same, Let's run to the guild before the training rooms are all full," Alex turned to Blue.
"I guess I have to starve myself to figure that one out?" Leo shrugged, "I feel like mine is the less exciting of the bunch."
"It's also the only one that's passive, right? Everyone else got something active," Hera asked.
"So far, but since everyone seems to have gotten a skill, I'm sure the other roles got one too, and I can only imagine what they got," Leo walked back to the elevator. He couldn't do much right now, but Hera felt like his skill was the one that would be the strongest. If she had it while fighting the wendigo, she could've done much better without being hindered by hunger or lack of sleep. Still, she wanted to check this private room thing and headed towards the doorway outside the city.
She wasn't the only one doing that. There were three other people who she assumed were all explores heading to the doorway. Sebastian was there as well, and when he noticed her, the man gave her a knowing nod. Everyone around her also had similar reactions when their eyes met. One even had a large smile on her face. Hera could understand why. It was a free skill, and depending on how it worked, it could remove the need for hotels completely. Well, that only counted when there was a doorway around, and since rooms where it took longer than a day to get to a doorway weren't that common, it seemed like a safe bet.
One by one, the people who were walking arrived at the doorway and crossed over. There wasn't anything different in the way they vanished. Suddenly they were covered in light, and then they were gone. Some were taking a bit longer to press the notification, surely reading something they weren't used to seeing. Hera and Sebastian arrived almost at the same time and touched the large doorway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Would you like to be transported to
Wailing Valley - 7th Layer
[Yes] [No]
Or press the button below for your private room.
[Enter your Private Room]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pressing the new button, Hera felt the familiar hot water cover her body, and she suddenly appeared in a room very much like the one she saw during her role tests. Simple white walls and no decoration. There was also a bathroom and a sink by the small living room. What was supposed to be the bedroom was just a bed with a door with barely any space inside. At least the bed seemed to be king-size, which was always nice. Hera pulled up her tablet to take a couple of pictures of the place and tell Silah when she noticed that she still had a signal. After a quick test, it became even better. Inside here, she still had access to the Internet. She was just about to make a video call when the signal cut off.
"What the? It was working just now," Hera asked loudly.
"Sorry, kid. Can't have you doing a video call when I'm around," a familiar gruff voice came from behind her. Sitting on top of the counter was a talking green apple.
"Peaches!" Hera gasped and went in for a hug.
"Hey, kid. It's been a while," Peaches smiled and let himself be picked up.
"What are you doing here? Is this part of a test?" Hera asked.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
"Nah, you're good. I'm just here to help you figure out some of the more… fun parts of this place. Other people will have to deal on their own, but since you have the guide skill, here I am."
"Fun part? Such as?" Peaches nodded behind her. Hera turned around and saw that on the other side of the room, a holographic screen appeared. Several icons appeared almost like it was her tablet. In fact, it mirrored exactly that layout, down to the location of the icons and shortcuts. She pulled the tablet up and tried opening a random app. The holographic screen followed the movement showing the app she had just opened, "So I have a giant tv screen here?"
"Yep. Imagine the movie nights you can have here. Also, try opening your map."
Hera did as he told her, and instead of the screen changing, a large diorama of the Forest of Dreams appeared in the middle of the room. It was a perfect replica of everything she had seen, down to the marks on the trees and the lamp posts with the blue crystals. Even the city was there, with the guild, the research center, and when she touched a building, it showed how it was inside. However, that only happened with places familiar to her. If there was a building she never entered, touching it wouldn't do a thing. That was also true for the whole map. Since she had never explored the entire room, she couldn't see everything that was there. Some parts were just missing while the outline of the entire place was still there.
"This is really cool," Hera kept looking around the map observing how detailed everything was.
"One more thing about it. You see the dungeon you just went to over there," a small beacon appeared over where the dungeon was. Unlike the other trees, this pair, with the branches creating a barrier between the trees, was bigger, and when she touched it, a notification appeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spirit's Plea Dungeon
Normal mode: Help the spirit
Common rewards: 30 to 15 thousand gold, waking salts, sleep well eye drops.
Uncommon rewards: Mist drop.
Very rare rewards: Nightcap of the Sleep Spirit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow, so there are better things than the night cap?" Hera wandered.
"Yep, that will also let you know how to enter the hard mode, and you can see the map from inside it too. Well, most of the time, that one changes with every run, and you can't even use the map inside it," Peaches shrugged.
"Bad example then, but still, this is awesome!" Hera kept looking around and took a peek inside the bathroom. There was not just a sink and a toilet, but a shower as well, "Aw, I hoped there would be a tub."
"Which brings me to our next point of order. See that panel by the entrance?" Hera followed Peaches' eyes.
"The thermostat?"
"No, well yeah, but I mean the thing on the other side of the door. That panel that looks like something you would see in a spy movie."
"Oh, this one?" Hera walked over to the panel that Peaches was talking about.
"OK, now put your hand on it. It's kind of a lock. Only you can access it. Unless you give someone else permission, but you'll see."
Hera followed Peaches instructions and placed her hand on the panel. It wasn't much different than the rest of the room. Same color as the walls, same feel, everything was just the same. The only thing that could be seen as an indication that this was different was that this had a frame of sorts. When Hera placed her hand on the panel, there was a pause, and a window appeared in front of her with the blueprint of the room. She could change the angles she was looking at, make it 3d and spin around freely. On the side, there were a set of tabs ranging from furniture to paint and even themes. She had full control over this room, and she could change it as she saw fit. However, she couldn't add anything too fancy or complicated. A hammock in the middle of the room? Sure, but she couldn't create a computer or make a crystal chandelier.
With Peaches' help, Hera explored the editor and made some adjustments to her private room. First, she made the bathroom bigger and swapped the shower for a bathtub. She also added a window right where her head would be. That way, she could stay in the bath and watch something on the holographic screen. Changing the color scheme was her next step. Now the ceiling was deep purple, and the walls a lighter shade of the same color. While doing all that, Hera noticed that Peaches wasn't his usual self. After giving the explanations, he was just standing there, staring into space, and wouldn't say anything unless she asked something directly.
"Peaches, are you OK?"
"I am. Why?"
"You seem… off. Are you worried about something?"
"Ah, well. Sort of, but not really. You see, I have to talk to a bunch of explorers at the same time. Technically I'm not the 'real' Peaches, just a copy. That doesn't mean that the main body won't have all the memories I do. Things are like that even when doing the role tests, but today I'm just working overtime. That's probably what you are seeing," Peaches explained.
"Oh, I see. Sorry to make more work for you."
"Don't worry, kid, it's part of the job. Do you have any more questions?"
Hera stopped for a moment, "Yeah. What happens to things I leave here? Like if I go out and leave my shoes here?"
"They go out with you. Even if they are not on your feet. Everything you bring here will come out with you. Well. Almost everything. If you use the bathroom, you don't have to worry about it spraying everywhere when you leave."
"What if I swallowed a coin? Would the coin be gone, or would it go out with me?" Hera asked.
"Why are you going around eating coins? Is that some new weird trend?" Peaches had a confused expression on his face.
"Not really. But it is a fair question. What if I accidentally eat something that doesn't get digested? Like corn?"
"OK, fine, I get it. It's just weird that you are not the first to ask about that. Hell, I bet most explorers who are talking to me are going to ask me that," Peaches sighed, "No, the system might be annoying with some things, but it won't be with this. If you eat corn, it will vanish, but things like coins, a ring, or anything inorganic will be yeeted out. The fecal matter around it will be gone, but I would wash it with soap, alcohol, and maybe even fire before feeling like that is actually clean."
"What about crumbs? Like if I bring popcorn or toast, will the crumbs leave with me?"
"No, but also yes. If you just get some crumbs, it won't happen, and they will just be gone, but if it is too much, it will be considered a foreign substance, and they will shower you and anyone around you as you leave," Peaches explained.
"What's that limit? 1kg or something like it?"
"I honestly don't know. You might want to do some tests. Do you have any other questions?" Hera shook her head, "Great. Then I have to go, kid. Sorry, this one was a bit rushed, but there are way too many people talking to me at once. I promise we can hang out more when you get your next role skill."
"That's OK. It's just funny how even guides have their busy days."
"Guide. Singular. I'm the only one killing myself right now. Then again, I don't think anyone else could do what I do."
"I agree. You are awesome!" Hera opened a big smile.
"Ha! At least someone recognizes it," Peaches replied with the same smile Hera gave him, "Anyway. It's been a pleasure, Kid. As always. I hope to see you during your next role test."
With that, Peaches vanished, leaving Hera alone in her private room. She toyed with it for a while longer, took a bath since the hotel didn't have any tubs, and watched some videos. She also took a look at her tablet and sent a message to her friends, asking about the new role skills they got. Silah replied right away, and they chatted for a while. According to the blacksmith, Fethy recognized the token that Hera had, meaning that the duchess of culture should be related to Finlay. After she was done with her bath, Hera went back to the hotel. On the following day, they would head out to the Naga hero's tomb once more.