After triggering the quest, Hera went looking for Alex in the library. Ever since they came back from the temple, the assassin was looking into some magic spells. Apparently, she and Kirouhebi talked about the wind spell he used and other ways to control the battlefield that could work well with her fighting style. She was also looking into some curses but doing so in moderation not to make what she saw in the painting worse. Alex wanted to find a way to get rid of what was in her mind. That being said, she was trying to be careful not to mess with something that could aggravate her condition. Hera understood more or less what happened with her friend, and she was even helping Alex watch out for any possible symptoms of the curse getting stronger. Every night before bed, the explorer used the Luminous Life Litany to help fight back against anything. One of the biggest advantages of the spell was that she didn't have to target something specifically. Instead, she could just use it and wait for it to latch on to something. Adding that to her [Shaper of Mana], it was a surprisingly effective curse breaker, even if, in this situation, it was nowhere near enough to remove the curse. At the very least, Alex felt the craving for knowledge weaken during the treatment.

This time, Alex had a single book about curses and a few others about elemental magic that explained tactics and other ways to use wind, water, and earth to control your opponents. She was splitting her time between the training grounds in the guild and the library and today was one of the days dedicated to reading.

"Hey, did you find anything good?" Hera asked.

"A couple of things, but it will take a lot of practice to make it work. Like how can I make a pressurized air bullet to change the trajectory of an attack that's not mine? How about you?"

"I have a good problem," Hera sighed and sat down on a chair beside Alex.

"Are you going to elaborate or just leave me hanging?"

"I'm considering my options," Hera chuckled and leaned towards Alex, "Kidding aside. I got a role quest. For the Researcher skill."

"Oof, I'm sorry. You were trying to get the mage for a while, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but my magic-related skills are stuck. I can't figure out a way to recover mana more quickly, and things like Shaper of Mana are still rank one."

"Do you think those skills you got when helping Lena made it harder?"

"I think so. The reinforced mana thing seems to overlap with the mana regeneration. It increases the effects, but it kind of makes it harder to increase the skill itself, you know," Hera sighed.

"But researcher might be good, right? I mean, couldn't it help with what you're doing now?"

"Yeah, and who knows. Maybe there is something I'm still missing about how the skill works. But as far as I'm aware, it will be just something that lets me know how much I know about a subject and do some automatic cross-reference with my knowledge. But the number of details that I can find with that is much smaller than what Bonnie would get."

"I mean, that is badass. Especially if it has some synergy with another skill. Like if it works with your map or your Hunter thing," Alex bumped her shoulder with Hera's.

"Yeah. Either way, I have to do the quest now. I don't have the option not to do it. I mean, if I give up, I'll just waste the rank of the skill that I got, and I'll need to increase even more some other skill before getting another role quest."

"Which skill was it, by the way?" Alex closed the book she was reading.

"The ancient language one. It reached rank 5."

"So, are you going to get the skill?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow probably. It's late, and I want to rest before going. I usually have a day, and rushing in seems like a bad idea."

"OK, so I won't wait for you to eat tomorrow."

"You say like you ever wait. Your texts are always 'I'm going to eat,'" Hera rolled her eyes.

The following day, Hera went to the closest doorway as soon as she woke up. Touching the frame, a notification appeared in front of her.

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

Role quest identified.

Do you wish to begin the [Researcher] Role test?

[Yes] [No]

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Hera pressed yes, and she was transferred to a familiar place. There was a king-size bed in the corner, an oversized blue couch in the middle of the room with a small door leading to the kitchen behind it. On the walls, there was a pattern of wood that made the place feel like a treehouse, and the screen in front of the couch was set up with the view of a mountainside.

"Why am I in my private room?" Hera asked loudly. She came here every now and then. During the trip, she even had Alex, Amanda, Cris, and Tim sleep here in a couple of rooms that didn't have any hotels or any rooms available. Instinctively, she tapped her necklace and called Daskka. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of her.

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Explorer's Quest – Researcher Skill

You have acquired abilities that mirror that of a Researcher. You may attempt the Researcher role test to unlock Researcher-related skills.

Study a topic enough to discover something new. You are able to pick between a number of subjects.

Rewards:

Researcher role skill

????????????

Failure: The quest will be lost. To attempt the test one more time, unlock the next tier of related skills.

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"That's way too open-ended," Hera sighed.

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"That's why I'm here, kid," A slightly gruff and familiar voice came from something on top of the kitchen counter.

Hera looked towards the sound and saw a green apple with a large smile on his face, "Peaches!"

"Hey, kid. It's been a while."

She rushed over and opened her arms, "Can I give you a hug?"

"Just don't squeeze me too hard," Peaches replied and was picked up from the counter. While he was in Hera's arms, Daskka appeared behind the explorer and stared at the guide, "What is that?"

"Oh, this is Daskka. Daskka, this is Peaches. He's a really good friend of mine."

"An ego construct? That's rare… also, I'm going to need to double-check the rules. I'm not sure if she?" Peaches looked at Hera, who nodded in confirmation," She counts as someone else."

"What? I mean, she's intelligent, but wouldn't she count as part of my equipment?" Hera gasped. She never considered that Daskka could be counted as a person for the guide skill even if she never called her over while talking to a guide.

"That's why I'm checking. Give me a minute," Peaches closed his eyes while Hera just waited. Two minutes passed before he opened his eyes again, "OK, so she doesn't count as being a person around here. But, if she tells anyone about the guides, it will count as a strike for you."

Hera nodded, "OK, that's fair. I'm the only person she can talk to anyway. So are we good?"

"Yeah, Wanna start already?" Peaches asked.

"Well, hang on. How are things? We haven't seen each other in over a year. Last time was when you showed me this place."

"Things stopped being so hectic. Even if there are a lot more people becoming explorers these days, that part is easier to deal with. Things back home are good, and I've started playing some games. It just sucks that you guys don't make playable characters like me."

"I kind of get what you mean, but I think there are some games where you play as a slime. That might be the closest thing you'll get."

"I know. But I'm not a bloody slime," Peaches scoffed.

"Are you sure?" Hera asked but just got a dirty look in response. She cleared her throat, "Anyway. Can you tell me what is going on with the quest?"

Peaches sighed, "Sure. The idea is that you will get a few options about what you want to research. You will have this book with some information about the subject. What you have to do is use what is available in the test to expand your knowledge enough to reach the next tier."

"My knowledge has tiers?" Hera asked.

"Yeah, or at least according to the researcher skill."

"Oh yeah, I remember reading something about that," Hera nodded. She did some research on the skills she could get, and there was a mention about the level of knowledge in a subject.

"Exactly. You will only be able to see up to a certain tier. I think it was only up to B. Like in a test, you know," Peaches stopped talking for a moment, "Actually, It might be B-."

"That's still a lot."

"Yeah, but the hardest part is the last 10%. It's like baking. You can know how to make a pretty decent cake when following a recipe and maybe improve it a little bit. But doing one from scratch without a recipe is something you could only do when you are near that A grade."

Hera tried to follow the analogy, but it was all over the place, "That… doesn't make that much sense. Not the 10% thing, I mean the rest."

"Well… yeah, you're right. Sorry about that," Peaches sighed.

"Are you OK? You seem a bit out of it."

"I'm… I'm dealing with some family stuff."

"What happened?" Hera sat down on the couch. The test had yet to start and even if this was counting with the time she had, making sure Peaches was OK was more important.

"Nina and Talpa are fighting. You know, the Kobold sisters you've met."

"Yeah, I remember them. They literally saved my life. What happened?"

"It is just stupid. We guides have a lot of free time in our hands, and last month we had a talent show. They always do a number on those things, this time wasn't different, and their presentation was really good. But Talpa had to run off right away, skipping the encore because she was participating in another show with a few other guides who like to dance. Nina got livid because Talpa never said anything about doing another show, and the two have been fighting ever since. Like they are sisters and of course they fight, but it never lasted this long."

"Right… but why are they fighting? Is it because Talpa did another show or because she didn't say she was going to?" Hera asked.

"Honestly, I don't even know anymore. At first, I thought it was because Talpa didn't say anything about the second show. By the way, she only did it because one of the other group members wanted to watch a show that a band was doing back on earth live. And Talpa was the right height for the choreography. Nina was a bit too short for what they needed."

"OK… and what about now? Do you know why they are acting like that?"

"It just escalated, every time they see each other, they start to fight, and the reason for the fight keeps changing. The latest one was because Talpa used all the conditioner. For fuck sake, we can just make more. I really don't get it," Peaches sighed.

"I'm sorry to hear it, and I don't have experience with fights like that to give some advice, but maybe they just need to talk and tell each other why they are so angry."

"I tried that, but they just kept yelling."

Hera thought for a moment, "Do you have like a guide psychiatrist? They might need to go to couples counseling."

"I think we have someone who does that. I'll check with them."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could do more to help," Hera sighed.

"Don't worry. Just hearing me out was enough. And if you get any other ideas, let me know."

"Sure, I can keep my tablet in there, right? I'll write them down if anything comes to mind."

"You can do that, or you can just tell me," Peaches smiled.

"What? Are you going to be there?"

"Not quite," he gestured to the wall monitor. Instead of the usual view of a mountain range that Hera set up, the wall was completely gone, and beyond it, there was a massive library.Several tables were in the ground, The walls were filled with countless shelves, and there was even a blackboard that could be used for something. However, among all the shelves, there wasn't a single book. Instead, there were three tomes in the central table. One red, one blue, and one yellow.

"Should I just walk in?" Hera turned to Peaches.

"Yep. The moment you step in there, you will start the quest and the timer."

"So it still didn't start?" Hera asked.

"No, you have time to prepare, but you can't use the internet here."

"Oh no. I wasn't thinking about that. I just want to go to the bathroom before I start," Hera got up from the couch and went to the back of her private room. A few minutes later, she was done with what she had to do, and she walked towards this empty library that was now part of her room, "Can Daskka come with me?"

"Well, she is technically part of your equipment, so yeah, I guess." Peaches shrugged.

"OK, let's go, Daskka. You can read, right?"

The snake nodded in response and even created a small pair of mist glasses and pushed them close to her eyes using her tail. Hera chuckled and approached the books on the table. Even without asking Peaches, she understood that these books had something to do with her test.

All of the tomes on the table were very plain, just a colored cover with black letters for the title. The red one was called 'Monster Anatomy,' the blue one 'Secrets of the MAZE,' and the yellow one 'Magic is life.'

Hera looked back and saw her private room where the door to this library should be, "Just to confirm one thing. The book I pick here is what I'm going to have to learn more about, right?"

"Exactly."

"And the information I get here is real? Like if it says that a monster is weak to fire, is that actually the case outside here?"

"Yep, everything you see here is real," Peaches nodded.

"Then I know what to pick," Hera turned back to the table and reached out to the one book that stood out among the rest.