Chapter 421 - Meeting Room (Patreon)

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You have completed the test given by the guides.

You will receive a new skill for completing the test.
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Meeting Room

When you are alone inside your private room, you are able to communicate with the guides you have met during your travels. They can send you messages on the room's screens, and you can invite them to your private room.

This interaction can only happen inside your private room, and the guides must be willing to communicate with you.

Any communication under the effects of this skill is not under the same restrictions of the [Local Guide] skill. The guides are not required to answer your questions, and they can tell lies, but they are also not limited to discussing the room.

There are some subjects that the guides are unable to discuss.
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"What the…"' before Hera could even finish reading the notification, a part of the screen that had her view changed to what looked like a messaging app. There were already a dozen notifications from the different guides she met. Capri, Johnny, Talpa and Nina, Berthellemy, Laika, Calina, and Peaches were all there, and aside from Capri, everyone else sent only a single message.

"What is this?" Hera turned to Peaches.

"That is part of the extra thing that the system gave to explorers last year. You could've gotten this skill then, but you had to be doing a test, and there was a vote involved. Also that message thing will appear in your tablet, but only when you are here," Peaches explained.

"A vote?"

"Yeah. All the guides that know you had a vote to see if we agreed that you should have this skill or not."

"Oh… really? What was your vote?"

"I don't get one. Since I'm the one calling the voting, that's all I do. It's technically already a vote yes for me. After all, I'm the only one who can call the vote," Peaches smiled, "I'm glad you passed the test, by the way. You made me worried there for a second."

"Why?" Hera was still shell-shocked. Running away from the people, saving Fitz, this new skill, and being able to talk to the guides was a lot. Everything was a bit too much, too fast, and Hera still  felt the phantom pain of the attacks. Daskka, on the other hand, was still hurt and seeing that, Hera called her back to the necklace. Staying inside, that was  the best way for her to recover.

"Because of what you asked just before freeing Fitz from the cage. I honestly thought you were going to ask something," Peaches explained.

"Really? I think you don't know me very well then," Hera sighed and finally got up from the ground, heading to the bathroom. She needed to splash some water on her face to get her bearings.

"I understand if you need to rest for a while, but I would ask you to at least answer the messages before leaving. Specifically Capri's. He was really excited to talk to you again."

"Yeah, I'll answer soon. I just need a break," Hera was still in the bathroom, trying to calm her nerves. For some reason, she was still angry. Angry at the people who did that to the guides, angry at the guard who hurt Daskka, and angry at herself for being so brutal with a person. Even if they were just constructs of the test, they were still people. This was something she still struggled with and even avoided doing any dungeons that had people as enemies.

A few minutes passed before Hera came out of the bathroom. She sat on the couch again and took a look at the notifications. Not counting Capri, everyone had sent something along the same lines. It was basically a congratulatory message for getting the skill and an 'Oh, here is my number.' From what she understood, the guides were the ones who could allow someone to talk to them, and that was why they were sending those messages.

Capri's, on the other hand, was more than just that. He already acted like Hera had agreed to call him and he thanked her again for calling him in Boothudurn for the first time. His next message included some suggestions as to what she could do with the dwarves, things like the type of schools that would fit them, and the shows she should suggest. His last message was telling her that he was happy she could meet him again, and he would be waiting for his invitation to come over.

"How long can I stay here for?" Hera asked, still thinking about her test timer.

"As long as you want, kid. This is your private room; there is no time limit for you to be here."

"Ok. Are you leaving already?"

"Not quite. I still have one thing left to give you," Peaches looked to the side, and a notification appeared in front of Hera.

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You have completed the Researcher role test.
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Explorer's Research

You are able to tell how much of a subject you already have learned and use your personal knowledge to cross-reference with other information.

You are only able to tell up to 70% of completion in a subject, and you cannot find any related topics by using these skills.

By calling the skill, you are able to open a window that allows you to search for any information you know. If you forget a piece of information, that information won't appear on the screen.
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"Wait… what? I thought I gave up the skill because I let Fitz go," Hera turned to Peaches.

"Nah, that was just the first taste of our lies. Since we guides made this test, we took some liberties with the notifications. We wanted to know if people were willing to save a guide even if that meant giving up something and not receiving anything in return," Peaches nodded.

"Really? That doesn't make much sense. I mean, usually, even if whoever is involved won't give you a reward, the system will. And people can just ask Fitz about it," Hera scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah, but if people ask for a reward, we won't give them the skill. We say that it was a test to see if they could keep the guide skill and that they passed."

"I see. Well, it kind of makes sense, but it feels a bit cheap," Hera yawned mid reply.

"We are just being careful, kid. Anyway, I'll let you rest. Feel free to call us tomorrow for a housewarming party. "

"I'll do that. Oh, and can I ask you to leave some fruits and maybe a soda here? I didn't get any food when I came, and I'm sure I'll be hungry when I wake up," Hera asked as she headed to the bed on the other side of the room.

"Sure, kid. I'll get you set up. Also, sorry I couldn't remember the skill properly, it's not a B grade but a C one."

"Don't worry, and thanks for all the help with this test. I'm glad I won't have to wait so long to talk to you again," Hera smiled at Peaches, but she stopped before collapsing in the bed. All her tiredness was washing over her, not just from the running around with Fitz, but the ten plus hours she spent reading and figuring out her theories. Still, despite that, she really wanted a shower. A quick one to wash away the dirt, soot, and blood that was on her body.

Before heading to the bathroom, she looked back to the couch to say goodbye to Peaches, but the guide was already gone. There was a fruit basket in the place where he was sitting just as she asked. Hera picked it up and placed the gift in the kitchen. When she opened the fridge to put the soda can in the basket, she noticed a large tray with a small card in front of it.

'Made you a lasagna. You just need to cook it and try not to burn it. Hope I see you tomorrow.

Peaches.'

"You are too sweet. You know that," Hera said to the card before closing the fridge and going to take a shower. Less than 10 minutes later, she was already passed out in her bed. It was a good thing that she could control the temperature inside her private room. Otherwise, sleeping with her hair wet would be a sure-fire way to get sick.

When Hera woke up, it was around 4 in the morning, and she was already feeling very well-rested. That felt really weird, she usually would sleep in, but after checking the messages she received the day before, she understood what was going on. The messages the guides sent her arrived at around 7 PM, and her reply, if one could call that odd rambling that she wrote as an actual reply, was sent just a few minutes after that. Most of her messages were so full of spelling mistakes that she couldn't even understand what she meant herself. There were a couple of messages from Alex, Silah, and Helena too, but those weren't anything serious. They were just asking if she was OK and how the test was going. She didn't like the fact that she couldn't explain how the test went down, but there was nothing she could do about that. First, she sent the replies to her friends, letting them know that she was OK and the test was going well, even if a bit weird, but she couldn't say anything because those were the rules. Hera could tell that those constant lies about random rules would eventually come back to bite her in the ass.

After that, she went to take yet another shower, this time not rushing to get clean but enjoying the hot water. When she was done, Hera put the lasagna Peaches made her in the small oven that she had set up and turned on the screen to watch something as she waited. During that time, Hera sent a message to the guides, apologizing for her previous message and asking them if they wanted to visit her. Berthellemy, Capri, Laika, and Peaches said yes, but the rest either thanked the invitation but said they were busy or didn't read the message. Hera wasn't bothered by that; this only showed her that instead of how it was when she called them, this interaction would be more personal, and they wouldn't be splitting themselves up like Peaches did when she saw him.

Less than two minutes after she sent the text, she heard a doorbell ringing, "What the… since when does this place have a doorbell?" Hera walked to the door that usually would only show a notification when touched, but this time she could just open it without a problem. In hindsight, that wasn't the best idea. As soon as the door opened, Capri tackled her, making Hera fall to the ground.

"Hera Kingsley, how fortunate you are to be in my presence once more," Capri said while standing on top of Hera's stomach.

"Oh, stop being such a diva. I'm pretty sure you were more excited to see her than she was to see you," Laika rolled her eyes.

"Also, you should get off our host. This is her home, not ours," Berthellemy added, still outside the door.

"Ah, yes. My apologies," Capri got off of Hera and turned to the other guides with an angry expression, "She didn't know that we could see each other again. I did, it's different."

Hera groaned while getting up, she wasn't wearing any armor at the moment, and her simple shirt did nothing to stop the impact, "I'm glad to see you, just. Give me a heads up next time," she tried taking a deep breath but started coughing.

"I… I…" Capri looked back and forth to Hera and the other guides, "I'm sorry…" he lowered his head, and his wings flopped to his side.

Hera just reached out and patted the flying sheep, "Don't worry. It's OK. Just be more careful next time. After all, you are much much stronger than me," hearing that, Capri perked up again, and Hera looked at the other guides, "Any reason why you are waiting outside? Is that like a vampire thing that you have to be invited to come in?"

"Of course not, kid. This is called being polite," Peaches scoffed.

"Then come on in," Hera smiled.

Peaches, Berthellemy, Laika, and Nina, walked inside. Nina was a surprise to Hera. The message she got from the sisters was that they couldn't come because they had other things to do. Peaches noticed Hera's stare and gestured to her tablet. Hera opened it up, and there was a message there from him.

'Talpa had a rehearsal, and she replied, they share the communication because they are from the same room. Nina is free and wanted to come. I hope it's not an issue.'

Hera just nodded and helped everyone settle in, "So… Peaches gave me a lasagna, and it's still not ready. I wasn't expecting you guys to come so soon. I would have stopped by a store and bought some stuff if that was the case."

"Don't even think about it. We are the ones who came to give you a late housewarming party," Laika put her hand inside the air and pulled a tray of mini hot dogs.

Berthellemy and Nina did the same, pulling out a cake and some bowls filled with different snacks.

"No one told me I had to bring something!" Capri gasped, "Give me a minute," he dashed out of the doorway to what Hera could now see was a reception very similar to what she had seen during her role tests. On the other side of that room, there was an elevator which Capri jumped in and started to press the button frantically with his wing.

"Is he going to be OK?" Hera asked.

"He will. That's just how he is," Berthellemy said.

Laika looked back at the door. Then at Nina, who had a sad expression, "OK, OK, let's stop that. We came here to party," she put her tray on the kitchen table and came back with a bottle of vodka and shot glasses for everyone, "Here, here. Everyone drink up. We are going to party like the world is about to end!"

Peaches shook his head, "You do know that we can't get drunk, right?"

Laika gave a mischievous smile, "We can when we come here. Bet you didn't know that."

"Really?" Berthellemy asked.

"Then I'm not so sure Nina should drink. I mean, drinking when you are feeling sad can lead you to some bad places," Hera said.

"That is true, Nina. You shouldn't…." Peaches started to speak, but when everyone looked at the Kobold, she had already downed her first shot.

"I want another."

"Nina... You shouldn't…." Peaches started.

Nina walked over to Laika, "Another."

Laika became too intimidated to say no and just refilled Nina's glass. Seeing that, Hera sighed and took the shot herself. It burned when it went down her throat, but unlike the vodka she was used to drinking, this was quite good and even a bit fruity. It was almost like she was drinking some sort of wine, a stupidly strong wine but still wine.

Hera sat down on the couch and smiled, "So, what do you guys do at parties?"