For the next couple of days, the Royal Explorers ended up in something close to a routine. They would wake up in the Wailing Valley, return to the Shtylla Archipelago, and split the group between those who would run the dungeon and those who would explore the room and search for ways to move between the islands. When they were done, they would return to the Wailing Valley and rest for the night. And since the Bugfish were not attacking anymore, Hera didn't have to use Nimbus as a mount to drag the corpses to Shane's camp. They argued about keeping them close to the doorway, but they didn't have a fridge or a decent way to keep them cool, and no one wanted to be close to rotten fish.
The one bridge they had access to led to an island with green grass, pineapples, and oranges, but it was a dead end. When looking around the island, they found a couple paths that could eventually lead to another Island. However, at the moment, those were submerged underwater. Which probably meant that they were heading to an island that had to be created in the dungeon. That is if this was the only dungeon that could affect the room like that.
Another interesting thing they found was that despite the dungeon offering a wide variety of grass colors, the Golem confirmed that they were all categorized into three different types. Green, blue, and cyan. Bert calculated all the options, and if his math was correct, it meant that the dungeon could create 54 islands, but they still didn't know how many would be underwater at a time.
Five days into their search, disaster struck. The one island connected to the room's entrance sank after the team completed the dungeon. Luckily, no one was on that island. Hera was worried about exactly that, and her solution was to have the teams inside the dungeon only press the button after 4 hours had passed from the moment they split off. Even if they completed the dungeon earlier, they would stay there until the allotted time. The reason for that was so the people outside could continue their exploration while some were running the dungeon. When 3 hours had passed, everyone gathered by the dungeon's entrance and waited for the rest of the team there. That plan wasn't a hard sell now that everyone had seen the Bugfish. No one was willing to take chances against them on their home turf. But when the only island connected to the entrance sunk, they were left with almost nothing to do in the room. Sure, they could swim, but that felt like pushing it.
They tried to bring the island back, but even when making the same layout as the one connected to the initial island, it didn't emerge. When talking to the Golem, it confirmed that the positions were not set in stone. When one island sunk, the one that would appear in its place wasn't necessarily the same one that sunk. There was one of its elements that would always be the same, but the rest could change. After further probing, the Golem added that the islands directly connected to the island they wanted to bring back would share at least one of its attributes. This helped somewhat, but without being able to move from their starting position, it was very difficult to find the pattern. One very confusing thing was the presence of jackfruit on the initial island, but then again, it wasn't one that could submerge, so maybe this was a way to identify 'special areas' in the room.
What frustrated the Royal Explorers the most was that they only had one chance per day to get it right. If they were very unlucky, it would take them 45 days just to find the right combination. Because of that, the Royal Explorers decided to go back to Boothudurn to resupply and talk with the guild about their discovery.
Explaining to the guild how the Shtylla Archipelago was left to Hera. After all, she had a silver card. She shared their discoveries with a representative in charge of updating the database, but the response was that the guild didn't have the resources to explore the room right now. They would still inform people about this new room, and anyone who wanted was free to go there, but the only thing they would do was set up a proper warning about the changes in the room caused by the dungeon. With the help of the internet tower, they were able to make a message pop up on the tablet of whoever was entering to inform them how many people should be inside the room right now. That would also explain how the room worked and why they shouldn't press the red button in the dungeon unless they confirmed that no one would be put in danger because of that. The Royal Explorers could still continue their search, but they had to be careful with others as well.
With all that being said, it shouldn't take too long to find someone to take charge of the flow of people inside the Shtylla Archipelago. Probably just a couple of months, and it wasn't like there was a lot of interest in that area of the MAZE. Even if it was a new room, with many apparent mysteries surrounding it, getting there wasn't easy. People would have to travel 2 or 3 days and cross both the White Desert and the Forest of Dreams, rooms that didn't have a particularly safe route to take when moving from doorway to doorway.
Bralac was happy with the change. Even if he was practicing his Soul Forge, he still didn't want to use that skill to work with rare materials, such as the obsidian leather they got from the Eternal Bond dungeon hard mode. Hera also let him know that he could work in a forge for as long as he wanted, but if he decided to join the rest of them again, he would have to wait for Adriel, so he wouldn't travel alone.
There was one more reason for Hera to return to Boothudurn. She wanted to see if there was a way to buy an item that turned into a boat or that created a ship like her Griffon Whistle became a mount. Unfortunately, even by using all her connections, including the ones with the Order of the Last Court, she couldn't find anything like that. At least, not anything affordable. She found one simple necklace with a gold coin attached, which could be used to summon a pirate ship. The issue was that the item would be going to an auction and the starting bid was already in the hundreds of millions. It was very likely that something like this would only be available to large corporations.
Either way, Hera also looked for another weapon. Ooze was lagging behind, and she didn't want to risk having her blade freak out for no reason. She ended up going for something called a Dao. An ancient sword that didn't have a pointy tip. Instead, it was a wide flat tip with an edge, allowing her to cut her enemies even with a stabbing motion instead of piercing them. What attracted her to the weapon was that the design came from a group of humans from earth called Naga. They lived in India, but Hera couldn't help but feel attracted to that weapon, even if just for its origin. She also took a few days to practice, and soon, she had a new court member.
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Dao - Lightning
Dao sword
Attribute Scaling:
Empress Attributes: 82
Intelligence x 5.3 [3.5(7)+1.8] Endurance x 4.8 [3(6)+1.8] Charisma x 4.3[2.5(5)+1.8]
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Strength x 1.8 Agility x 1.8 Luck x 1.8
Weapon skill:
Chain Lightning:
You can channel lighting through this weapon dealing damage to the target and allowing this skill to arc to another five targets who receive reduced damage.
Arc distance: 5 meters
Damage Reduction: 10% on each arc
Mana cost: 20 000 mana
Lighting Edict:
When using a lighting spell or skill with this weapon, the effects are increased by 40%
When infused with mana, this weapon deals an additional 30% lighting damage with all its strikes.
Lighting rod - Engraving:
Lighting can be attracted to this weapon. When that happens, it can use the lighting coursing through it to empower its attacks and spells.
2 engraving slots remaining
Familiarity: 20%
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The Lighting Edict was something that came from her Royal Seal. Using one that matched the weapon's element seemed to give it a considerable boost. Still, according to Daskka, it was possible to get an even better result if it wasn't just the same element but one that complemented the original. Interestingly enough, she realized that her basic [Sword Combat] skill also affected this weapon. Despite it's unique features, it was still a sword at its core.
Hera understood that, but she was still testing the skill out. While checking for new weapons, she also looked for a substitute for Armory and Scythe, but she couldn't find any accessories with the same skills that could be a part of her court. She would likely need to order them custom-made, but it was a bit tricky when the important part was a specific skill.
Since Hera had given the Royal Explorers a week off, everyone was doing their own thing, and she was currently in her house just watching some tv in her room, with Nimbus and Daskka by her side and her court floating around her. She told them to get comfortable, but they decided to keep floating for some reason. Suddenly, her tablet started ringing.
Nimbus and Daskka looked at Hera, "Who is it, mum?"
"It's Shane. Weird, she hates when people call her," Hera frowned and touched the accept button.
"HERA!" Shane yelled as soon as the call connected.
"What happened? Is everything ok?" Hera jolted up, surprised by the reaction.
"Yeah. It's great. I have some news. Do you want the exciting one or the really exciting one first?" Shane was grinning from ear to ear.
"The exciting one first. Let's build up to the next," Hera chuckled and pointed the tablet to the side, "Oh, and say hi to Nimbus and Daskka," her court members waved at Shane.
"Hey, guys. So the exciting one is that… actually, are you in a quiet place? Can I talk about anything?"
"One moment," Hera tapped her finger on her tablet, and a soundproof bubble appeared around her, "Now you can."
"Great. So, that map that you found. The one you said was from a dungeon, but I'm not sure it is," Shane started.
"Like I said. I got the map from a dungeon. It wasn't from any place else. Especially not from a place that I can't talk about, or I would risk losing something important," Hera squinted at Shane. She had already told her that, and it seemed like they understood each other. There shouldn't be any reason to ask this again.
"Right. I went to the same dungeon and got a similar reward," Shane winked at Hera, "But mine was just confirming that part of the map was for the room connected to this one. And we found the doorway."
"The ant nest one?" Hera asked.
"Exactly. But like Darni said in the dungeon, it is inactive. Something must have happened on the other side," Shane sighed.
" That sucks. But at least we know that we can trust the information on the map. I think," Hera nodded.
"Yep. That was the exciting thing. Now for the really exciting part. You know how dungeons only have their normal and hard modes, right?"
"I do. That's common knowledge."
"Not anymore. One of the archaeologists here is around level 70 something, and he also completed the test in the tower. You know, the one in the 26th layer."
Hera frowned, "Ok… I don't know why that's important."
"I'm getting there. So, he went inside the hard mode dungeon and tried to do more than just the hidden quest. Apparently, some dungeons have more than one hidden quest, and that's what he was looking for. He talked with almost every Naga around and helped them with everything he could, from farming to giving love advice and a bunch of other stuff. Then, a new notification appeared when he completed the dungeon and the hidden quest. It said that he had unlocked the 'Trial Mode' of the dungeon."
"What the hell is that?"
"From what he could gather, it is something beyond the hard mode, but apparently, the enemies inside will scale with your level. So he will fight monsters level 70 something. Also, only those who passed the test of the tower can access it," Shane explained.
Hera's eyes went wide, "Are you serious? Isn't that a major discovery?"
"It is, and he is already letting the guild know. But here is the important part. This Trial Mode has an entirely different setting. He wasn't in Spiral but talking to the Naga that came to Darni's temple. He had to fight a few who wanted to plunder the place while protecting the ones inside it. And they were from a different time frame than Darni. That happened years after he was gone so the Naga could tell him all kinds of stories. He recorded everything, and we are still going over it, but he found something very important."
"Ok, stop teasing me and tell me what it is," Hera shook her head. She knew that Shane could've gone straight to the point but was just trying to torture her a little.
"We know the name of the room where their city, their capital, is located. And the rooms connected to it."
"Really?" Hera and Nimbus asked at the same time with excited expressions.
"Yep. The Naga were from a room called Deakoshara. That place is connected to a room called The Old City of Zaxalam and another called Gartinet Hollow."
Hera thought for a moment and even did a quick search online, but it seemed like no one knew where those rooms were located, "I never heard of those places."
"Me neither, but it's the best lead we ever had. Well, that and the map."
"Yeah. We need to see if we can find one of those rooms."
"Absolutely," Shane nodded and caught Hera up on the excavations.
They also talked a bit about the Order and how everyone seemed too worried about their own thing to search for their legacies. Then again, no one could blame them. When Shane hung up the call, Hera returned to the TV, but her mind was elsewhere. She never expected to be this involved with the Naga, but now, she wanted to find their capital, maybe even more than Shane. Probably not, but hey, she was a Naga, after all. It seemed only fair that she would search for her forgotten home.