When Hera and Bonnie returned to the campsite, Shane and Mylo were already there, and Adriel managed to get a decent number of fish for them to eat later. Helena and Blue were still away, which worried Hera a bit, but she trusted them enough to know when to run away if something were to happen.
"So, did you guys find something?" Hera turned to Shane.
"Kind of? I don't know if that counts as something, but there was a half-buried... something. It was maybe the start of a sculpture," Shane pulled up a picture on her tablet and showed it to Hera.
It looked like a small stone cube with a hole in its center. The side had been chipped off, so they couldn't see what was inside, but it definitely wasn't anything living. There were some carvings on the closed side of the cube that made Hera remember the statues she saw. Some were of fish with leaves instead of scales and branches in place of fins. On the other hand, there were several trees with scales instead of bark for the trunks and fins in the place of branches. It was a very odd and surreal piece of art, but something told Hera that this was more than just a random drawing.
Suddenly, something clicked in her mind, "Hang on. Where is that sculpture?" Hera turned to the set of statues behind the camp's fire pit and trunk benches. She looked for the one depicting the open box with something inside, but from the shape of the cloth, it wasn't a cube. Wanting to be sure, she touched the sculpture, and the notification appeared in front of her.
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What was once created is now lost, waiting for the one who will find it.
Cratic Island challenge incomplete
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"Hey, Bonnie. That fountain said something about the Cratic Island challenge, right?"
"It was. Is that the island that the sculpture is talking about?" Bonnie got closer and touched the open box, "Ok... so maybe this is a hint? We need to find something to complete the challenge."
"Hey, girls. If you are going to have a conversation, you'll have to share it with the class," Shane interrupted them, but it was for a good reason.
Hera turned around and explained to everyone what they found. After hearing everything, Adriel had a concerned expression on his face, "This is not good. We might be in trouble if that challenge is considered a dungeon."
"Right... if it's a dungeon, the monsters here can go all the way to level 60, can't they?" Bonnie turned to Adriel, who nodded in confirmation.
There was a pause with the realization of what that meant. If they were stuck in a place where there were no monsters around and didn't have the option to go to dungeons to train and level up, there was a chance that it would take decades to even get close to a level where they could handle the creatures.
"We could ask for help," Hera suggested.
"To whom?" Bonnie turned to the explorer.
"The guild, the dwarves, anyone. Just because we are not strong enough to fight monsters here, that doesn't mean others couldn't come to help us complete the challenges, and then we can leave. Hell, I would even pay them for it if we need it."
Shane nodded, "That's a decent idea. It's not unusual for people to be carried, and here it would be more of a rescue operation. I can even ask the people working in the tombs to come help. There are a few level 50s there, not to mention Jasper, the researcher that already completed the test of the tower," she turned to Hera, "But... we could see if that thing we can do could give us more information. We are basing everything on assumptions, and maybe things are not so bad here. Remember, the monsters inside dungeons can get up to level 60, but that doesn't mean that every single dungeon has monsters at that level."
"That's true. Do you want to do it first? Since we have seven challenges, it might be a good idea for one of us to save that for later, just in case. Besides, the Safety Cube only works once every couple of days. Do you want help to figure everything out beforehand?" Hera pulled the Safety Cube from her bag.
"Why am I going first?" Shane crossed her arms.
"I just figured it was fair. I mean, the last two times we did this together, I was the one who went first," Hera replied.
Shane wanted to protest, but she couldn't argue with the facts. The two of them walked away from the group, and Hera activated a soundproof barrier while they discussed the questions they could ask. After about half an hour, Hera walked back to the camp, leaving Shane inside the black barrier of the Safety Cube with a soundproof bubble inside it. Blue and Helena had returned, and they also found some odd things spread around the island.
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There was a broken-down gate, almost as if some ruins were supposed to exist here, but there was nothing anywhere. They also found an odd patch of ground that had a different color. Blue used her controller role skill which allowed her to see the area from a different point of view, almost working like the camera of a drone. It was a shame that she couldn't take a picture when using the skill, but there was a weird pattern that looked like a giant tree on the ground. The strange part was that the lines were the parts where nothing was growing, while the bark and the leaves had patches of multicolored grass on the ground. Aside from that, they found some fruit that was more common in cold weather. Either way, they brought back a large number of apples and peaches.
They also found a stone slab, and after making sure it was safe, they decided to use it. Once again, the blue screen appeared before them, and it read, 'Do you wish to know the location of the island challenge?' They accepted that, and the location was marked on their maps. Unfortunately, it was the same place that Hera and Bonnie found, and after sharing that information, the tablet entered a cooldown period which should last 48 hours. While talking, Adriel started the fire to make something for everyone to eat. Since now they had some fruit, he could make something a bit more interesting than just simple grilled fish.
A few more minutes passed, and everyone was sitting around the camp talking about this place and everything they were worried about. The conversation was very redundant, but it felt better to talk about it all than to just sit around waiting for more information. Unlike what happened when Hera and Blue arrived at Boothudurn, they weren't in danger, and there were no pressing matters aside from gathering information, and somehow, that was worse. Shane finally returned with a pep in her step. It seemed like whatever she found out was good news.
"Oh, we have food? Good, I was getting hungry," she said and sat down between Hera and Mylo. Everyone waited for her to say something, but the explorer just grabbed an apple and started eating it, "Do you guys prefer apple pie or peach pie?"
"Shane!" Mylo and Hera gasped at the same time.
"Ok, ok. I was just joking. So we have good news and weird news. What do you want first?"
"The weird one," Blue said.
"The challenges are not dungeons. Not really. Like they do give rewards, but they are not considered full-blown dungeons. Also, not all of them will happen in different places. Some will happen out in the room," Shane took another bite of the apple and continued speaking with her mouth full, "Also, in some of the challenges, there will be monsters, but they won't kill us. It will behave kind of like role tests. If we were to get killed, we will be ejected from the challenge. That's not to say that we can't get hurt. Like if we get hit in a bad place, we may die before we can get out of there. Or if we slip and fall head first in a spike."
Everyone took a moment to digest that information. It was good news, but at the same time, it wasn't great. If those things didn't behave like dungeons, then maybe they wouldn't help them level up to face whatever monster would be around the room.
"What is the good news then?" Helena asked.
"We don't have to worry about monsters. Unless it starts to rain. Monsters only show up when there is a storm. And they will only be up to level 35. Well... the normal ones, at least. I couldn't get any more information beyond that about them."
"Level 35?" Mylo asked, and Shane nodded.
"And you said that they come in a storm?" Blue smiled.
"Blue... I don't think that will work," Hera already had an idea of what her friend was thinking about.
"I mean, it's literally my element. And I managed to break apart an entire dungeon. I'm pretty sure I could stop a storm from a room like this. As long as it's not like a full hurricane."
Hera sighed, "Fine, but can we keep that as a plan B? I don't want to rely on something that may or may not work. It's not that I don't trust you, but you never tried to stop an actual storm, have you?"
Blue opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself and thought for a moment, "I haven't. Ok, that's fair. We should look into ways of being safe, but I still want to try if that happens."
"I already have the answer for that one," Shane reached out to one of the fish being cooked, but Adriel used a sand hand spell to stop her.
"It's not ready yet."
"You can just tell me. Don't put sand near the fish!"
"Don't worry. I can control my magic enough not to have to worry about that. I can cook with those sand hands, and not even a single grain will end up in the food," Adriel puffed his chest.
"Ok, ok. We won't eat. But what do you mean you have the answer for that, Shane?"
"Oh. I asked about places to wait out the storm, and there are a couple of challenges that don't have a time limit, and there is enough food and water to last a couple of weeks inside," Shane explained.
"That's good to know, but then we will have the problem with the reef tunnel. It should be open just for a week," Alex felt she had to remind everyone about that.
"Well, that's why I also asked about the other challenges and how long they take. I couldn't get the names or what they are, but apparently, it's possible to complete all challenges in a single day. It would be hard, but it is possible," Shane turned to Adriel, "You are adding peaches to the fish?"
"Don't complain about it before trying it out. I have some other spices with me that will make this great," Adriel replied.
"Is that all? I mean, is that all you found out?" Hera asked.
"Yeah. There is another thing, but we figured that out already. Each island has hints about the challenges. And so do the statues. Apparently, some of them make whatever we have to do inside really easy," Shane replied.
Hera nodded and looked back to the statues behind them. She was still trying to figure out what they would have to do to get out of the room. Still, since they were more or less sure they would be safe while attempting those challenges, they could head to the fountain. But first, it looked like the fish was ready, and Hera's stomach was growling.