Chapter 397 - Higher Layers (Patreon)

"OK, now look away."

Alex nodded and looked to the side, removing Hera from her view. Just as she did that, Hera's presence vanished from her mind, "I know I'm still fighting someone. But who's there? Is it Hera or someone I met here?"

"It's me," Hera walked in front of Alex.

Alex blinked a few times, "Fuck, this was weird."

"OK, but what did it feel like?"

"It's like… I still remembered that I was fighting against someone and that it was just a friendly spar, but I couldn't tell who I was fighting against. Then when you appeared, I couldn't tell what the correct memory was. It was like my head was buffering a video, and it got fast against to explain everything that was going on. But I never forgot that I was fighting or the direction that you moved. It was just confusing. " Alex explained.

"Right… this might be better than I expected. I mean, if we are fighting in a group, I think I can trigger a sneak attack all the time," Hera smiled. They were testing out her new Elemental Armor spell. Apparently, that could work with all her spells, even the Selective Memory Filter, which caused this effect. So far, her favorite version was the stone armor that would give her entire body a crust of rock increasing her defense a lot, and the poison armor. Using it gave her some cartoon-like orange smell lines around her body, and anything that touched them could be poisoned. It was great for when she was alone, but it would be tricky to use in a group. There were others, like fire which she used in the moon base dungeon, slow, that would radiate a yellow aura and cause everything around her to be slightly slowed, including her own attacks, and one that created a pure mana armor. Unlike the others, there was no visual change, but she would have a higher resistance to spells and magical effects. She was still having trouble using some of her spells with the mana armor. Wind, Spore, Paralyze, and Healing were proving to be difficult when she tried to activate the Elemental Armor with them. For some reason, the element wouldn't take. She couldn't tell if it was because of the spells themselves or something to do with the elements.

A couple more minutes went by, and the time they had in the training room was over. They were in a room in the 10th layer, three rooms away from the moon base, and funnily enough, they had crossed only rooms in the 10th and 9th layers since splitting off from Amanda and the others. Before reaching their destination, they would have to pass a room in the 8th layer, and it would be the first time either of them was in that layer.

"Hey, are we leaving tomorrow  or tonight?" Alex asked.

"Tomorrow. I don't want to risk going in the night," Hera replied.

"Ah, yeah, that's a good call," Alex understood Hera's reasoning, but she still felt a bit frustrated.

"I know. I'm excited too. I mean, it's the 8th layer. Even if this is not where it happens, we are still going to see the remains of the first wall."

Alex nodded, "Yeah. I can finally start using the 'you're not a real explorer until you see the first wall' argument," Alex chuckled.

Hera just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because I'm sure everyone who came this far is an expert in what they do."

"Let me have this. It will just be to tease some friends and shut up a couple of others."

"Fine, just don't be mean. Some people say those things, and they really mean it."

"Oh, no. Don't worry about that. I'm just going to say that to some friends. And take a lot of pictures," Alex replied.

"Of course, I want pictures too, a bunch of them. It's a shame that there isn't any monument for Khan in the next room, but it's not like we can have shrines or things like everywhere where the walls once were," Hera sighed as they left the guild. They were in a room called Green Beach. It was like that because the waters in this room were completely green and crystalline due to the algae in the ocean. Unlike most other rooms, this place had just a small patch of land, and the majority of the area people could explore was out in the water. All the dungeons and monsters would all be in the great green sea. However, the two doorways were by the city. A place like this attracted many people, as most beaches would do. For that reason, the city built here was substantial and mostly governed by the triton. This meant that the hotels, bars, and the overall leisure options that one would find here were the main attraction. Not to say that there wasn't a group that was only interested in leveling up and doing dungeons, but the focus was more on allowing people to relax and have fun.

Hera and Alex walked back to the small cabin they got in the water, on a part of the city protected against monsters. They ordered some room service and turned on the television. Without Blue around, neither of them was too interested in clubs, even if they were in a perfect place for that. Hera had realized that she was the type to have more fun doing dungeons and traveling than going to a party. Alex was similar, but she simply enjoyed fighting. As long as she could be either sparring with someone or dealing with monsters that were at least a little bit of a challenge. Hearing that it would take half an hour for their food to arrive, Alex went to take a bath.

During that time, Hera tried to call Silah, but she got no reply. The show on the TV wasn't that interesting, so she just went around sending a text to all her friends and family.

Blue was having a blast with her family while Bonnie was still helping her mother with the guild's training. Eridan, Hera's dad, was excitedly talking about how his furniture started to take off. Some of the people in Boothudurn seemed to be ordering things from him just to look good in humanity's eyes. Still, even if that was something they were ordered out of pity or some other second intentions, business was booming, and he was sure the quality of his work would speak for itself. Helena was also doing well, and she seemed to have had a breakthrough in her research. She had figured out a formula that could replicate a complicated part of the Affinity Sight spell. Now, all she needed was to set it up properly with the rest of the spell. If that worked, she could finally sell the Affinity Sight to the guild along with a proposal to add it to basic training. Helena always felt like the training the guild gave was something ridiculous. One month was hardly enough time to teach everyone all that they would need to know to live inside the MAZE. Several times, she complained about that to different guild masters. Still, no one accepted her suggestion, claiming that the low number of explorers stopped them from having longer training or adding anything that wasn't deemed essential to the program. Now that the guild was accepting everyone, they couldn't use the same excuse again, could they?Hera tried to say that things might not work as she wanted, but she was careful not to say something that might make the mage give up completely. Even if Helena hoped for the best, Hera didn't have the same kind of expectations, especially when she was talking about a large organization or a company.

Sometime later, Alex came out of the bath, and it was Hera's turn. She quickly went inside and noticed that Alex was kind enough to change the water for her. It was a standard thing that most hotels would have bathtubs, but the triton had a unique take on the concept. It wasn't as deep as regular tubs. It looked more like the shallow waters in a river, with a constant sheet of moving water that would barely cover her belly as she lay down with her head against a soft elevated pillow-like part of the tub. It was very much like being in a mix of a hot spring and a creek. Daskka was also there, swimming against the current and seemingly having a blast. She would swim under Hera's legs, and occasionally Hera would move her arm, creating an obstacle for the snake who considered that a challenge. Hera chuckled and started giving her more difficult paths until Daskka ended up failing the race and tumbled all the way to the back of the tub.

"Oh, sorry. Are you OK?"

Daskka got up and huffed before she started running again. Halfway through the tub, Daskka's entire body changed colors, from the white with blue stripes, it all turned a soft shade of purple, and her entire body turned into mist. She flew through the air, almost losing all the shape of a snake, turning into a thin strand of smoke and moving towards Hera's head. Before touching her hair, Daskka turned back into her snake form and landed on top of the explorer's forehead.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Hera picked Daskka and held her in front of her head, "And since when can you do that?"

Daskka just licked the air around Hera's cheek and replied with an image of Hera using her fire elemental armor. It was the first time that the snake replied in such a clear way. Usually, Hera had to figure out her intentions by feelings or loose thoughts, but now, Daskka almost shared a memory with her owner. That surprised Hera in a multitude of ways. She already understood that this construct was much smarter than it seemed and that she would keep growing as time went by, but Hera never expected something like this. In her mind, Daskka would always be essentially an animal. A very intelligent animal but an animal nonetheless. Now, being able to show something like that and somehow learn a spell that Hera herself had just figured out seemed like something else. Even if the item said that she would learn Hera's spells, this was more than just that. In the memory, she could feel Daskka's intentions and how she looked at the spell and tried to figure it out.

"You really are amazing, you know that?" Hera smiled while looking at Daskka. Even if the snake was something more than she expected, she could still feel the same feelings that Chika had towards Darni in the dungeon coming from her. It was like she had bonded with Daskka even if she didn't go through whatever process that was.

This was something that maybe she could try to look into. After all, doing that type of ritual with her own pet snake could be helpful. However, ever since Chika died and everything that happened that day, Hera didn't return to the Wailing Valley. She knew that Shane was still there, digging up the Naga tombs to learn more about them. Another thing that the explorer did a lot was visiting the Eternal Bond dungeon. It was a place where she could talk with real Naga. Not just that, but she could talk with the previous holder of her legacy. No one in the order ever had a chance to speak with someone who had their legacy. In fact, that type of thing only happened with people who inherited the legacy from the current holder, and that was a rare situation even outside the order. Apparently, if Shane showed Darni any of her legacy-related abilities, the Naga would realize that he was just part of a dungeon, and in certain situations, he would help her. It was tricky. At times, Darni would be saddened about the situation, or he would just try to enjoy his time with his family. On rare occasions, the Naga hero would accept his fate and understand that the best course of action was to help someone else understand his powers and create a new hero.

Hera washed herself and made sure to give Daskka a thorough bath as well before heading out. As they left the bathroom, Alex was still trying to find something to watch.

"Hey, I thought you had died in there…. Why is Daskka wearing a towel on her head?"

"We wanted to match," Hera replied in a smile, pretending to be modeling her towel.

"You are one of those people who would carry the dog in your purse, aren't you?"

"C'mon, Daskka is not a dog. How many dogs can fly?"

"Do cartoons count?" Alex pointed at the TV where a show about a dog superhero was playing.

"If a cartoon can kill a monster, sure," Hera replied as she walked to the side where there was a divider that she could use to get changed.

"Considering that one, I don't think that would be the case. He's running away from bees," Alex sighed and started to change channels again, "So, how many days until we get there?"

"Two, probably, we could do it in one, but the last stretch of it would be in the early evening. I'm not sure if walking around in a forest in the middle of the night is a good idea," Hera replied while she changed into her pajamas.

"I agree. Let's try to avoid that," Alex nodded, "By the way, Amanda and the others just sent us a text. You should check it out."

"Are they OK?" Hera walked out of the divider and pulled up her tablet. The text in question talked about how a rampage just started in the Moon Base, and it was wild. Instead of facing monsters, several gun stations appeared around the station, and people had to shoot at incoming asteroids. It was almost like an arcade game, and there was no danger unless people royally messed up. The station could repair almost any damage it suffered, as long as it didn't happen all at once. Each destroyed rock also could drop some minerals and precious stones. Even mana gems that could recharge on their own could be among the drops. Along with the text, there were a few pictures showing the gun stations and the incoming asteroids, "Wow, this looks really cool."

"I know, right. I know we want to get there soon and all, but I wouldn't mind being stuck in the Moon Station during that," Alex sighed.

"Honestly, me neither. And It's not like Silah could blame me for it."

"You guys are still not OK, huh?" Alex looked up, and Hera just nodded in reply, "Wanna talk about it."

"Not really," Hera jumped face-first on the bed and just glanced up towards the TV. Daskka came to her side and curled up on the same pillow, closing her eyes to sleep. Hera just lightly patted the snake and kept thinking about her and where she was going. Maybe she should stop chasing the blademasters and look for the tamer's legacy. It would be better for Daskka, but she wasn't even sure where to start. Those thoughts continued until the room service arrived, and they started having dinner. After that, it was better to just stay in and sleep early. They had to be well-rested for the next day.