Hera was walking up the stairs leading inside the pagoda. She paid close attention to the golem statues on both sides, trying to see if there was any difference or indication of something new. After getting the title, everything felt strange. The air had a different smell. The sun hitting her skin felt warmer. The taste of salt water that the wind would carry was stronger, and it felt more like a unique spice than just an uncomfortable reminder of her location. However, despite thinking everything was new and fresh, she couldn't describe what had changed.
There was one more thing bothering her. When she looked at her friends, Hera saw something else. Something that no one was able to see. Although, saw might not be the right word for it. She could sense the type of mana they used, and because of that, her feelings for her friends were being pulled in different directions. If she looked at Helena, she would be a little scared, as if looking into a dark hallway in the middle of the night. Blue also gave her a similar sensation, but it was more awe-inspiring as if she was looking at an incoming storm. Looking at Alex was like looking at a cactus balloon, sharp and pointy, but soft when approached with care. However, she also got a sickening feeling in her stomach, as if she was staring at a diseased plant.
Her assumption was that this was because of the mana everyone had. She was, somehow, seeing the type of mana they had which caused her to feel certain things related to that type of magic. That wasn't something she liked. Feeling afraid of Helena made no sense, and seeing Alex as a sick person was just plain mean. Maybe this was something she could change or adapt to get a different feeling or actually see the mana instead. Another option she had in mind was to get used to this new perspective and understand what came from this title and what came from herself. That wasn't an idea that she liked, however. Ever since she started living in the MAZE, Hera's life was constantly changing. She couldn't remember the last time she got used to one of the new changes. Even Daskka and her court would, on rare occasions, feel like something new.
So, the best option in her mind was to try to make that feeling of mana change somehow. It wasn't rare for a skill or an item to adapt to fit what its owner wanted, so titles shouldn't be different. For now, she had to keep looking at new things and try to make them shift to what she wanted. Unfortunately, none of the golems seemed to have any mana inside them, so she couldn't use them as 'target practice.' Hera opened the doors to that large empty room and saw the notifications again.
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You are attempting the Nactilan Island challenge.
Enter this room and speak your answer.
If you are correct, doing so will complete the challenge.
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You already completed the Cratic Island challenge.
You will not receive an item to attempt the Nactilan Island challenge.
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She walked to the middle of the room and spoke with the crystal leaf in her hand, "Xey'lyon."
The entire room seemed to resonate and echo the words, repeating them with Hera's own voice over and over as the sound was getting farther and farther away, but it also distorted the words she spoke. After a few moments, it was like a completely different person was speaking in a completely different language. The name now sounded more like 'Zed-Nylon' than the version that Hera spoke. Suddenly, a loud bell rang, and the crystal leaf started to change. It didn't grow in size, but it turned into a small branch with another two smaller leaves sprouting from the sides while keeping the larger leaf on the tip.
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The true name of your item was spoken.
It will now be able to utilize its full capabilities.
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You have completed the Nactilan Island challenge.
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Hera cheered and looked at the crystal branch in her hand. She still could use it as an earring if she wanted or just attach it to her tablet as a strap, as long as she found some tread. Next, she used her [Inspect] to check what were the 'full capabilities' mentioned by the notification.
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Crystal Branch
A branch made out of a crystal tree, or Xey'lyon, in an ancient and forgotten language.
It can be used to create a crystal tree that provides shade and protection in any place that has soil. The tree is temporary, and if it is destroyed, it will vanish completely. Additionally, whoever creates the tree can use mana to change the colors of the tree while maintaining its crystal appearance.
Duration: 2 hours
Cooldown: 24 hours
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"This seems nice. It might help in a desert or in a place where I need to make a landmark or something," Hera mumbled to herself. She put the branch away and looked around the room. It was still completely empty, with plain beige walls and some beams of the same dark wood that made the railing framing said walls. She tried using her sensory net and her new mana sensitivity but to no avail. Even Nimbus flew around and wasn't able to find anything of notice in the pagoda, be it inside or out.
After a while, she realized there wasn't any way to find something else about this place. Hera decided to go back to the rest of the group who were close by, trying to figure out the names of their own items. It took a few hours, but eventually, everyone managed to get the name they were looking for and received the 'unlocked' version of their items.
The upgrades were not that exciting. Helena's hair band would now maintain your hair in more varied situations, and Adriel's fish lure would work in freshwater and not just in the ocean. Mylo could make better illusions in any place with water, while Blue's sand magnet would now remove other types of dirt from her clothes. Alex's doll would tell the general weather of the next few hours and not just when a storm was coming, and Shane's item, which was just some carved fishbones, would now turn cold when activated. In essence, it was just an ice cube, but she could detach part of the bones to spread it around. Unfortunately, they had to recharge after a while, and that could only happen if everything was in a single piece. Lastly was Bonnie's spyglass, and that one had the less interesting upgrade. It removed the whole, turning black when not looking at the right thing aspect and allowed it to function as a normal spyglass when not pointing at one of the challenges. To allow her to know where the challenge was located, a runic pattern would appear around the lenses when she was looking in the right direction.
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Unfortunately, the sun was already getting close to the horizon. Adriel and Alex found the path to the next island, but it would be a long crossing across the shallow water, and going there and back would mean that they would be moving around during the night. Even if this room wasn't supposed to have any monsters roaming around, the idea of exploring an area in the dark wasn't that exciting, but at the same time, they would be wasting precious time. There were six days until the coral reef path would close, and even if they were a day ahead of schedule, the first challenge proved that they couldn't count on beating them in a single day.
"Adriel, do you think we could use the drones as a sleigh?" Nimbus turned to the elf.
"A sleigh? For everyone?" Adriel looked around, "It would be a bit tight like it was in the submarine, but I can make it work. Why?"
"Since the current issue is the lack of time, I could pull everyone to the next island and then back. Maybe this will, at least, give us some extra time for tomorrow," Nimbus suggested.
"That's a good idea," Adriel turned to Hera," Would that be ok?"
"Nimbus is the one suggesting this. If he says it's ok, then it's ok," Hera replied.
"Right then, give me a couple of minutes," Adriel pulled the drones that were in his backpack. He made them be very light and portable, occupying about the same amount of space as a sleeping bag.
It took just five minutes for him to set everything up, and Nimbus assumed his griffon form to pull this improvised sleigh. An advantage of the situation was that Hera could be on top of her mount instead of on the drones. Adriel also gave everyone some rope to hold on to and warned that Nimbus should avoid stopping quickly. If that happened, the drones wouldn't be able to stop, making everyone slam onto him.
Bonnie would be using her spyglass to show where they had to go, and soon, the group was running across the island in their makeshift carriage pulled by a griffon who could talk and change shapes. They had to move across the Nactilan island, getting closer to the tip of the half-moon beach and then changing directions to the northwest. Nimbus didn't seem to have any problem running across the water, but that was thanks to the fact that it was a very shallow path that would barely reach his ankles.
At first, everyone thought they were just dashing toward the water, but after a couple of minutes, they realized that their destination was an island that would exist below the ocean level while still being dry. The entire place looked like a giant bowl. The sides were made of some rock that stopped the water from getting inside, but the rest looked like sand and dirt. Aside from an empty doorframe, there was nothing in there. Nimbus had to slow down while going around the island so the drones wouldn't hurt anyone, but eventually, the party left the sleigh and approached that structure. Since this was the only thing on this island, it had to be something related to the challenge, and Bonnie's spyglass confirmed that.
When touching the grey stone doorframe, a simple notification appeared in front of them.
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Walk through the doorframe to start the Sitlacan Island challenge.
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"Ok, what did the statues say about this one?" Alex turned to Helena.
"Let's see…. Oh… It just says, 'It's time to run,' and the sculpture is… I don't know, some logs?" Helena frowned.
"What?" Hera asked and carefully approached the mage to look at the picture. Just like she said, it looked like a pile of logs, nothing else.
"Great, so we have to go there and start running? That doesn't sound good," Bonnie sighed.
"Yeah…" Blue nodded.
"Tell you what. Let me go there first. I'll go inside really quick and check what the challenge is, then I'll come back. If we really have to run, then I have Nimbus," Hera suggested.
"Are you sure?" Alex had a worried expression, "You don't know what will happen in there. You might be in danger."
"Yeah, but if that's the case, we are all in trouble. Besides, we were not supposed to be injured in those challenges, remember? Also, Nimbus can run as fast as a car. I'm sure that if something dangerous is going on, he can outrun them," Hera smiled at the Sentinel.
"Be careful, sweetie," Helena put her hand on Hera's shoulder, making the explorer flinch slightly.
"I will," Hera replied before dismissing her court and walking through the stone doorframe. On the other side, it looked like she was in the exact same place. The island below sea level. However, she quickly realized that she was no longer in the same location. Looking back at the archway, she couldn't see anyone else, and to confirm that this was the challenge, to her right, there were a familiar group of creatures sitting around a few chairs.
"Hey, kid. You got here sooner than we expected," Peaches smiled.
"Hey. Yeah, I got lucky with the last challenge," Hera smiled, already calling Nimbus and Daskka, just in case.
"Lucky is an understatement, honey. That thing you pulled in the well should've killed you," Jackie shook her head.
"Yeah… I didn't know."
"We honestly thought we lost you when the first snake change shape," Laika gave Hera a sad smile.
"Not all of us. The all-seeing me was sure you would overcome that ordeal. After all, you are the first person who ever laid eyes upon my beautiful self. Such achievement would surely be enough to prove your worth," Capri flew and got close to Hera, who just petted him, making the sheep go back to the ground and snuggle on her leg.
"It was just luck. I had no idea what I was dealing with. I'm just happy nothing bad happened," Hera smiled and turned to the others, "So, what is the challenge here? Or do I have to figure it out on my own?"
"That is not needed. Not this time," Berthellemy started to float from his chair, "This challenge is simple. A race. If you win, you complete the challenge."
"A race? Really?" Hera looked at Nimbus, "Sure, this won't even be a challenge."
"Not so fast, man," Johnny stepped forward, "You have a choice here. Either you run by yourself, and we will have a similar speed. Or you use your mount, and we use our own."
Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Right... And how long would this race last?"
"Somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes," Nina replied.
"Ok… do you mind if we do this tomorrow? Everyone is waiting for me, and it's already getting late," Hera looked up, seeing that the sun had just touched the horizon.
"Sure, we kind of figured this would be the case. Tell your friends that you saw a few different statues here waiting to run. And you can add the thing about mounts. That's the same for everyone," Peaches smiled, "Try not to take too long, kid."
"Why?" Hera looked at him with a confused expression.
"Dad is kind of a fan of racing," Talpa explained.
"Really?" Hera chuckled.
"What? Can't I have hobbies?" Peaches shrugged.
"Of course, you can. Just don't get mad when I beat you," Hera smiled.
"Big talk for someone who walks on two legs," Laika smiled.
"Most of you walk on two legs," Hera rolled her eyes.
"By choice, not by design," Kelpi added. Everyone stared at him for a moment. He wasn't walking, not really. He was swimming on his helmet-bowl while the suit did all the moving around. Still, no one said anything, and Hera left the challenge. She wanted to talk to the guides, but she was tired, and everyone was waiting for her. It would be better to come later when she had time to hang out without worry. Then again, the idea of going on a race against the guides was starting to make her excited.