Chapter 308 - 5th Layer (Patreon)

When Hera arrived at Cold Water Lake, she had to double-check her map to be sure she actually changed rooms. The area was too similar to the White Desert's entrance, just an ice cave with an upwards path leading to the outside. However, after a few steps, Hera could tell that there was something different. She could hear some loud sounds coming from outside, and there was an earthy scent of water. She kept walking and saw the source of that smell, a massive lake that could be easily confused with the ocean. When she finally left the cave, things became even more confusing. She was in a lake, yes. And land surrounded the lake, but at the moment, Hera and the others were standing in the middle of a massive iceberg that somehow ended up here. The thing was by no means small, and if they tried to jump from their current height, it should easily be a 15-meter fall before hitting the water.

"Don't worry, guys, we just have to move around the iceberg and reach the back. There is a spot there that connects to land," Shane pointed to the side and guided everyone to a small downhill path. Still, everyone had to be careful while moving. They were literally walking on ice. If it wasn't for the rope that the guild had set up on the walls of the iceberg, they wouldn't have anything to hold on to.

"How long does it take for us to go down?" Helena asked before moving.

"If we are being careful, about five minutes, if not, maybe two," Shane replied.

"Two minutes… I think I can do this then," Helena made enough tentacles to carry everyone and quickly moved them down the path. The spell wasn't affected by the slippery nature of the ice, but at the same time, they all had to be moved at once. The main drawback of this spell was that it was terrible for moving upwards. Even small slopes slowed the tentacles but descending an incline was the opposite. Thanks to all that, Helena was able to carry everyone in a bit over a minute and drop them all off, along with the bodies of the Frightfigures, on solid land.

When the tentacles vanished, Bonnie and Alex took a few steps and fell to the ground with hands covering their mouths while Silah leaned over the lake to throw up. Shane was to the side trying to recover her balance, "Holy crap, Lena. Give us a warning next time."

Mylo laughed with the situation, "I don't need one. Can we do it again?"

"Sorry, that one took out most of my mana. If you can wait half an hour, we can do it again, though," Helena gave a weak smile. She wasn't doing all that well either. Moving eight people plus five corpses was very mentally taxing, even if it was just a spell. The number of quick calculations she had to make was staggering.

After leaving the iceberg, it was easy to see the tower as well as some of the buildings. The outpost was in a grassy plain, allowing for some more advanced and quick construction. It also seemed that people were more interested in this room than in the White Desert. Before even reaching the settlement, Hera saw some groups leaving towards the plains or the beaches, and others seemed to be coming back after a hunt. It was close to 4 p.m., but the sun in the room seemed to be a few hours behind that. There were almost no shadows. This was one of the things that Hera had yet to get used to. Since Brinefront, the only room where she could actually see the sun was the Kobold Field, or at least the sun while outside a dungeon. She didn't even consider how that would affect her, but going through too many rooms or rooms with different time zones would easily mess up her sleep.

It didn't take long for them to arrive in the guild branch, and after a few minutes, they sold the corpses of the Frightfigures. They got just a few hundred gold for the bodies, but no one cared too much. They weren't hunting because of the gold. It was just something they picked up on the way. Still, this money could be used for a nice meal in one of the restaurants in the outpost. Surprisingly, they already had quite a few options on the menu but mostly focused on meat and chicken. The group managed to get a table big enough for all of them and sat down to talk.

"Ok, first things first. What the hell is that thing you used, Shane?" Bonnie looked at the explorer.

"Oh, you mean this?" Shane opened her oversized coat and showed the gun hiding in a holster by her chest, "This is a gun I made. My mom is a collector of guns, and she taught me all about them. When I came here, I started toying with the idea of making one myself, but using gunpowder in the MAZE was dumb. Every time I took a shot, I had to run from a dozen different monsters that were lured by the sound. Using fire spells had the same result and wind wasn't strong enough to fire the bullet," despite talking about a problem, it was easy to hear the pride in Shane's voice.

"Why would they chase you? Wouldn't most monsters run from the noise? Also, there was no noise when you shot before, only when those capsule things hit the ground," Bonnie asked the questions in such quick succession that she had to repeat for everyone to understand.

"I think the weaker ones ran, but the ones that chased me were the stronger monsters. Can't say for sure, though. For the noise thing, this one is a bit special," Shane pulled her gun and pointed to the large spring surrounding the barrel, "This thing is a magnet. It only activates when I put mana, but then it pulls the metal and shoots it out from the other side. I had to change the strength of that magnet a lot. The first version broke my wrist when I activated it. So, instead of focusing on making the bullets go faster, I made them deadlier. I have five slots in my gauntlet. One for the fire one, the one that I used to melt the ice. It was actually just a big explosion, but I made it hot without the blast part back there. Then I have the stone spike, an electric net, a buckshot, and the fifth one that I keep empty for any situational thing. My gauntlet can produce those bullets in just a few seconds, so I can keep shooting for a while without worrying."

Shane put the gun away, realizing she just told a bunch of people she barely knew about her invention. She cleared her throat and waved to one of the servers to order her food, making sure to avoid any more questions about the gun. It didn't take long for the group to take the hint and focus on the meal. While eating, they double-checked the information about this room. It was smaller than the White Desert, and reaching the doorway should only take a couple of hours. They would have to be careful with some of the penguins that lived near water since they seemed to be very aggressive, and there was a dungeon half an hour away from the outpost. According to Shane's data, it was a simple 'kill the boss' quest that could be completed in an hour by an experienced group.

"Do you guys wanna go to this dungeon? It's a shame that they already had the first rewards, but it seems fun. We have to kill a sea lion type of creature that is controlling the penguins. I miss doing a dungeon so simple," Blue suggested.

"I won't stop you from going, but I'm heading to the Wailing Valley. I know I said we could do a dungeon if it was on the way, but if we do this, we might be stuck here for an extra day since it would be stupid to go to the next room in the middle of the night," Shane replied without looking up from her food.

"I'll go with Shane. Don't wanna leave her alone," Mylo added.

"I think we should go too, Blue. The dungeon will still be here when we come back," Bonnie took a bite out of her chicken, "Oh, this is amazing. What is this?"

"Chicken. Penguin more precisely," Alex replied.

"Wait. We are eating… penguin?" Bonnie stopped her fork.

"Well, yeah. There are a bunch in this room and they attack people. We can't let all that meat go to waste," Helena replied.

"Is it that unusual to eat those things?" Silah turned to Hera.

"Well, a bit. Back on Earth, we even have laws protecting them," Hera cut a piece of her chicken parmesan and took a bite, "It's kind of weird eating this now that I know where it comes from."

"Girls, don't stall too much. Like Shane said, we should get to the doorway to the next room before it gets dark," Helena took a sip of wine.

"But here it's close to noon. Or at least that's what it feels like," Blue protested.

"Yeah, but the next room is the problem. According to the guild, it should be only one hour behind our regular time. Meaning that we will be traveling during sundown. There is also some weird effect there at night, and I really don't want to deal with that today since it might make us have to wait another day to get to the Wailing Valley."

"But even if we sleep here, we can get there tomorrow. It doesn't matter if we stay here or in the next room," Blue continued.

"Again, you guys can do whatever you want. I'm telling you what I'm going to do. In the next room, the outpost is closer to the doorway to the 7th layer than to the doorway here. We are going to have to travel for some time to get to a safe place, and I want to start exploring the Wailing Valley tomorrow, not the day after," Shane sighed, already annoyed about having to explain herself so much.

"I just don't get why you are so against having a small break here," Blue huffed.

"Blue. You didn't want to stop in the Kobold Tunnel to do dungeons, either. There was something you wanted to do that was more important than that," Hera chimed in.

"But that was about seeing my family!"

"Blue, different things are just as important for other people. Just because this doesn't seem that important to you, it doesn't mean that it isn't for Shane. It's unfair to compare those kinds of things," Mylo was looking at the controller's eyes.

Blue looked down, "I'm sorry. That was out of line. We can do this dungeon some other time."

Shane shrugged, "Again. I'm not forcing anyone to come with me. You can all do whatever you want. I'm just telling you my plans. And if you two are worried," she turned to Hera and Bonnie, "This wouldn't count as you giving up or anything. Oh, and for the record, that only applies if I can't find everything in a day. Sure it's very unlikely, but maybe I'll get lucky, and you two will need to talk to Ninleyn to figure something else out."

"Honestly, I'm curious about the ruins too. I've never been to one," Bonnie replied.

"That's true. Do they have traps? Like pitfalls or giant boulders that come down the hallway?" Alex asked.

"There was a boulder once. It made me lose my staff. I don't want that to happen again," Mylo pouted.

"To be fair, you were long overdue for changing your weapon. And this staff is better, isn't it?" Shane tapped Mylo's back.

"I guess. I still wanted to keep it."

"Would some dessert make you feel better? My treat," Shane asked.

"They have a fruit salad with honey and glazed nuts. Can I get that?"

"Sure you can," Shane looked at the menu, "You know, I really need to stop believing in you," she squinted at Mylo after realizing that the fruit salad was the most expensive dessert available. Even so, she called over a server and asked for it.

A few more minutes went by as the group finished eating before they all left the settlement. Their next destination was the 6th layer room called Forest of Dreams.


##### Author's Note ####

That fruit salad made me hungry...

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