Chapter 478 - Four Months Later (Patreon)

Hera's Status

Alex was in the bathroom struggling with a headache. It wasn't something completely new, but she was still figuring out how to handle them. Every time she had one of those, it would feel like something was trying to pull out her eyeballs. She tried going to the doctor, but no one found anything wrong with her. She even talked to a few healers who are experts on curses and other ailments but even then, we're unable to find any indication that what she was feeling was related to a curse. They weren't even able to realize that she was indeed cursed.

There was another thing worrying her. Her eyes were slowly turning yellow. Not the cornea but her iris. She wasn't aware when it started, Or if it was even actually happening, since her eyes were normally a very deep shade of brown. The yellow would only appear when the sunlight hit her eyes in the right way. A part of her just thought she was being paranoid because she was supposed to be cursed, but she wasn't exactly feeling the effects. Then again, there were some things that she could do now that she couldn't do before getting cursed. On a more basic level, her color blindness was getting better. Not that it was something she considered looking into 'fixing.' She knew it was probably possible, but it's been a while since Alex accepted that part of herself. Still, being her wishes are not, her eyesight was improved, and it wasn't simply because of her endurance stats. That was the first thing she checked when she realized what was happening, and no increase in attributes would change anything about color blindness.

She knew her friends would get worried about that, and even if it was a horrible idea to hide those things from them, she went as far as buying some colored lenses so her friends wouldn't notice any possible change in her eyes. There was a little voice inside her head telling her that if she told them about this fear, they would drop everything to look for a way to remove the curse, and she didn't want to worry them or make them stop what they were doing. In the future, when everybody was free, she would bring it up unless it became an emergency.

After splashing some cold water on her face, her headache subsided somewhat enough for her to keep moving without much of an issue. Another thing that helped was a new spell that she found that was perfect for that kind of constant and annoying type of pain, from stab wounds to stomach ache sore, in this case, when she was mildly annoyed because of her head. The spell had a few no names. It was something very basic, and many people would use it in different ways, but everybody would call it a 'good hit' since the numbing effect was very similar to a certain plant based smoking habit. The advantage of the spell was that there was only the number effect, nothing else unlike what those particular cigarettes could do.

When she was feeling better, Alex left the bathroom and headed to the living room, "Sorry about that. I'm still trying to figure out where those headaches are coming from."

"No worries. Are you sure you're okay? And are you sure those don't come from the curse?" Blue asked.

"I'm okay. Promise. And I don't know about the curse. I went to a few doctors and even talked to some curse specialists, but they don't seem to be able to find anything wrong with me. They can't even say I'm cursed. I know it does look like it could be from the curse, but at the same time, we can't be sure. Maybe it's the heat, or at least, that's what the doctors told me. I mean, it's really hot in here, and I could be getting constant heat strokes to a minor degree at least."

"I can understand that. I'm also having some trouble with the heat. It's fine when we are inside, but the moment we step out, it's so hot and stuffy. I really hope Lena and Bonnie are close to being done," Blue got up, "Ready to go bring those two scientists and food? I'm pretty sure that if it wasn't for us, they would have starved already."

"Yeah. It's lucky they don't have a cat. I'm pretty sure they would have been eaten by now," Alex nodded.

The two of them left the house and went to a Japanese restaurant. They ordered some food and ate there, and when they were heading out, they ordered enough for the two in the lab. Hera wasn't among them since she was still running the volcano dungeon like a maniac during the last few months. There were days when she would get up before sunrise and only get back home hours after midnight. While that was worrisome, it seemed to be helping or, at least, making her feel better. On the rare occasions they could talk to her, the explorer seemed happier and in tune with her emotions, even if some aspects were scary. Now, Hera was more ruthless. Doing the last dungeon run she had with her friends, she used half the army as essentially suicide bombers to destroy Bonpei, and she did so without batting an eye to the volcano tribesmen who were going to sacrifice themselves saying their goodbyes to their families.

When Alex and Blue were on the elevator to Helena's Laboratory, a voice called, "Hold the lift!" Blue held the door open, and an elf with sun-tanned skin walked inside, "Thanks for that. This building is way too tall and it will take ages for me to get back up there,"  the elf looked at the two, "Hey, I know you guys. You were at a party with the Flame Princess, right?"

"Yep, that's us. Also, she hates that nickname. And you are… Adriel right? We met you when we were going to the dungeon for the first time," Alex nodded.

"That's me!" the elf smiled, "and she shouldn't go around with a tiara on her head if she doesn't like the name. But she got a bit of notoriety with that nickname. There's a considerable group of people hoping to be in a party with the Flame Princess."

"Really? Is there a reason for that?" Blue asked.

"Mostly because she's very efficient. I mean, completing the dungeon usually takes between 3 to 4 hours. Between the war table and then the actual fighting, it takes a while. But with her, you can finish the dungeon in 3 hours at most, 2 hours if you're lucky. It's been a while since anyone showed up who could shake up the meta, so to speak," Adriel nodded with a smile and pulled a small necklace from his chest, " some people say she's even blessed with good luck. I've been trying to get one of these for ages and only got mine when I was in a party with her."

"What's that?" Blue asked.

"It's called The Heart of the Volcano. It's an upgraded version of the necklace you can get to withstand the heat here. Not only lets me stay in places that are too hot while being comfortable, but it can also increase my resistance to fire damage and make my attacks a bit more spicy," Adriel almost started dancing when he spoke.

"Wait. Are there necklaces that help us handle the heat? Why did no one tell us about it?" Alex gasped.

"I don't know. I mean, you came with someone, right? I talked with the Flame Princess a bit, and she mentioned that you guys are helping someone who had some stuff here."

"Now that you mention it, Lena has been wearing a different necklace since we got here. You don't think she…." Blue turned to Alex.

"I'm going to kill her. I'm actually going to kill her," Alex rubbed her temple.

"If you're being serious, I heard nothing. You don't have to pay me anything. Just let me walk away and pretend I never was in this elevator," Adriel took a step back, placing his back against the wall.

"She doesn't actually mean it. It's just an expression," Blue turned to the elf.

"Okay, good. I just got a new gig that is quite easy, and I don't want to get involved in something like that," Adriel smiled, recomposing himself.

"So if you didn't have this new gig, you wouldn't mind being involved in something like this?" Alex chuckled.

"Well, I would still mind, but you know… it would be, like, less because you're not messing with what I'm doing," Adriel scratched the back of his head.

The elevator door opened, and Blue stepped out, "Well, good luck with your new job. I hope it's as easy as it sounds."

"Me too."

Despite the apparent farewell, Adriel also left the elevator and started walking behind the two. After they turned the second corner and the elf was still just a few meters away, Alex spoke up, "I have to ask. Are you following us for any reason? Is that one of those cultural differences where it's okay to follow someone like this? Or are you like a stalker?"

"I'm not following you guys. Not really. You're just going in the same direction that I am. I didn't say anything because I was trying to figure out a way to say this without looking like a stalker and… I got nothing," Adriel shrugged, "Do you want me to wait here a few minutes so you guys can go wherever you're going, and then I'll go?"

Blue and Alex looked at each other and shook their heads,"It's okay. You can go wherever you're going. Just remember that if you try to do anything to us, the Flame Princess will go after you," Alex gave him a mischievous smile, "That is if you can run away from me."

Blue smiled and poked Alex's stomach with her elbow, supporting her friend in her attempted flirting. They walked for a few more moments until they arrived at the doors to Helena's Laboratory. The moment Blue reached for the door, Adriel sighed, "Kayo. Let me say this again, I'm not a stalker. I'm not trying to follow you guys. But I'm going there too."

"Just so you know, we have a friend that participated in the last wall break. She's in there, so if this is a lie you've been warned. Are you really going to say that this is where you are going?" Blue turned around.

"Yep. I'm not lying here. It's a referral job for movers," Adriel replied, and they agreed to open the door since that was something they might need.

Most of the laboratory's books and equipment were already packed in large boxes near the entrance. Helena and Bonnie were on the second floor, finishing up one of the last few bookshelves. Aside from that, the only thing left would be the large device surrounding the mana stone in the middle of the room. The two were talking happily about some form of magic, but Helena was the first to notice the people coming in.

"Hey. Did you guys bring food? I'm starving," Helena smiled but stopped when she saw the elf, "Oh, Adriel. Glad you could come. I didn't get confirmation if you would be able to take the job."

"Hey, Ms. Dittro. I sent you a message letting you know that I was going to drop by to check the weight of everything to see if I could carry it alone or I would have to ask for more people," Adriel pulled up his tablet, " Yeah, you even replied that it was OK to drop by this afternoon."

"I did?" Helena looked over her own tablet, and just as he said, the message was there, including her reply, " oh, sorry, I probably should have paid more attention to it. We'll be taking those boxes by the left side of the doorway, plus one more that is up here and the equipment around the crystal."

"I can check the boxes, but do you know how much this whole thing weighs?" Adriel looked at the several mechanical arms around the crystal.

"Each arm is 37.82 kg, plus the boxes they go in round it out to 45.5 kg. There are four arms, so the total is…."

"182 kg just for them. Got it. That should still leave a decent amount of weight and space. Let me check if I can carry everything."

"So you're finally done? Can we finally go back home?" Blue asked.

"If everything goes well, yes. We should be able to go back in four or five days, depending on Adriel and if we need to ask for more movers or not," Bonnie nodded.

"Actually, I would only be able to go next week. But I have a few things that I have to finish up here. I still have to check if I can carry all this. Give me a couple of minutes."

"That's kind of good. As much fun as packing everything was, I never ended up exploring the city," Bonnie said.

"That's true! We can hang out!" Blue nodded with a smile. It's been a while since they had just gone out to have fun.

"Yeah, do you guys think Hera would come?" Helena asked, "I'm still worried about her."

"I don't know. I don't even know where she is right now, but I could venture a guess," Alex sighed.

"Oh, she's doing the dungeon. In fact, I think she was trying to beat it on her own," Adriel said.

"Wait, what?" Blue gasped.

"Yeah. But don't worry. I'm sure she has more experience with that dungeon than almost anyone in the room. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?" Adriel turned back around and kept using his skill to count the boxes' size and weight.

The girls just looked at each other, hoping that his comment wasn't some sort of flag.