Chapter 557 - Ruma (Patreon)

Hera's Status

"Can you tell me at what time the storm will start tomorrow?" Hera asked the guide in front of her. The weirdness of the situation still pressing on her, more because  she was currently talking with a giant stone head. 

"I… hum… how can I put this… Oh, you know what? It's been a heck of a long time since I've seen anyone. So yeah, I can say this. You won't be facing a storm tomorrow. But it will rain," Ruma winked at Hera.

She paused for a moment, and it quickly hit her, "So we won't have to worry about monsters tomorrow?"

"Correct. Well, probably not."

"Probably?"

"Weather is a fickle thing. I can give you my best estimate, but things might change. Especially if any outside forces influence it. That doll your friend got can only do so much."

"Do you mean us? We can influence things?" Hera tilted her head.

"Well… I don't know. Your friend does have a legacy that can do something with storms. I honestly don't know what effects that could trigger. But I was speaking more of the winds and everything that might meet the incoming storm," Ruma continued.

"Can that actually happen? I mean, weren't rooms supposed to be like closed-off spaces?"

"They are actually more like pieces of a puzzle that are far apart from each other. We can talk about this some other time but let's focus on your questions for now."

"Right. So give me your best estimate of how long we have before the first monster shows up," Hera glanced up. There weren't any numbers in the sundial, but she was assuming that she had already spent about a minute, a minute and a half of her time.

"Best case scenario, 48 hours. If things go south, and I mean that literally. If the wind turns south, it could be somewhere around 20. The rain would start much sooner in that case. That is not taking into account anything you might do," Ruma admitted.

"That soon?!" Hera gasped. They had less than a day to complete the challenges and get out of here, or be left stranded in this room for who knows how long, "Do you have any idea if the storm will last for a long time?"

"I do. That will cost you some extra time. Is that ok?"

"Sure," Hera nodded, and the sundial moved to what she realized now was the third marker. The cost wasn't as high as she expected.

"Storms come here to die out. You can think of this place as their graveyard. They come here and keep going until they lose all their strength. That can take between half a day to a few weeks. This storm will be in the longer range of the spectrum," Ruma had an apologetic expression.

"Damn… Ok… Is there a place safe from the monsters here?"

"The forge is a good call. You can close the doors, and no monster will ever go there, but the issue is food. The only way to get food is to go outside. Or you can stay inside one of the challenges, but only Shane and you would be able to know when the storm is over. Same thing if you stayed in your private rooms. If either of you were alone, I'm positive the guides you know would help you out with food, but with more people there, that won't happen."

"Yeah…" Hera sighed and tried to change directions on her questions, "Ok, do all doorways require us to complete all the challenges?"

"Oh, smart. No, only the door you used to come here has that restriction."

"Really?"

Ruma nodded, moving its entire body while a wave kept them raised from the ground, "Since getting here from the Shtylla Archipelago requires you to pass a trail of sorts, the same has to be true from this side."

"Ok.. and how many doorways are there in this room?"

"Counting with the one you used, three that people have used before. I cannot say if there are more that have yet to be discovered or not."

"Which layers do they lead to?" Hera continued.

"One leads to the 20th layer, one to the 15th, and one to the 12th. I'll say that for you to reach the doorway to the 12th layer would take a lot. It's not just hidden, but there are a few conditions that must be met for it to work."

"Shit. Really?"

"Yeah, you should focus on the one leading to the 15th layer."

Hera nodded, "Ok can you tell me where it is?"

"That will cost the rest of your time," Ruma looked at the sundial. It was very close to the end already.

"I mean, sure. If you can give a more or less precise location, that would be great."

"I'll be as precise as I can," Ruma smiled, "It's on the last island you would go to. Considering the path you were taking so far. But it's not exactly in a place where people would try to look. That's the best that I can do."

The sundial vanished, and Hera nodded, "That's ok. I'm still curious about some things I saw here, but I don't think they would help right now."

"Like what? Ask me. If it's not something that big, maybe I can answer it."

"What is that statue?" Hera pointed to the giant crystal jellyfish in the middle of the room. We saw some mentions of it being the 'God of Water,' and since you are telling me this place is where storms come to die, it makes some sense."

"Oh… that…" Ruma looked in the direction where he came from. The portal was still there, and the giant crystal jellyfish was bathing in the moonlight, "That is not exactly a statue. It's ancient history, and it's not like there's anything you can gather from this, so I can tell you without a problem. A very, very, very long time ago that was a being that existed in this room. Kind of like Kirouhebi in the Waperath Jungle, but less… sentient, I want to say. She couldn't talk and just existed, like an animal. We can debate if she had a soul or not, but that honestly doesn't matter. To me, she was important. It was kind of like a pet. A dog that kept me company during those long boring days. She would roam the room's outer edges, where the water is much deeper than in the middle. A group of people came here and decided that she was a threat. Don't worry. Whoever they were, they are long gone, and they were not part of a civilization that ever came in contact with yours. They used an illusion to create a mate for her, and, as she moved to the middle of the room, one of the people crystalized her."

"How? How did they do that?" Hera gasped. The statue was massive, bigger even than the mountain where the forge was located. If someone was able to turn the entire being into crystal, it would require a massive amount of mana or something incredibly powerful.

"They used the one thing that is completely unpredictable to anyone. A legacy. I've tried recruiting people who could dispel ailments and magical effects to release her, but to no avail. To make things worse, people can't even damage the crystal, so I don't know if she is trapped in there or not."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe I can try something in the future?" Hera had a lot of spells that dealt with ailments. Maybe she could release that creature if that was poison or something like that. Even if that wasn't her focus, she would be willing to learn something new to help Ruma out.

"I honestly think that the only person who will be able to do anything about it is the one who currently has that legacy, but if you ever have an idea, I wouldn't mind you trying."

Hera gave Ruma a sympathetic smile, seeing the sadness on their face, "What was her name? Or was it just a species?"

"That one I can't answer. There is more to her name than you might think, so it becomes an 'important question.'"

"Mysterious. That only makes me even more curious," Hera chuckled.

"I know. Maybe I'm doing this so you will try to figure something out. But it's just the system telling me, 'no, don't say that.' It kind of sucks, but there is nothing I can do."

"That's ok. You already told me more than you should. I think. I'm still not sure what is considered ok to say and what isn't," Hera sighed.

"Honestly, same. Even after so long, I still get caught off guard by some of the questions people ask, and how the system stops me from answering them," Ruma continued and started to move towards the portal to the side.

"Oh, there is one more thing that I kind of want to know. I'm not sure you can tell me, though," Hera waited to see if Ruma was going to stop or not. Seeing the guide turn toward her and wait, she continued, "I have, on good authority, that a Naga was the last person to pass by the Shtylla Archipelago. Were they the last ones who came from that room?"

Ruma nodded, "They were. The last visitor that came from that doorway was a Naga. They left a few weeks later. Unfortunately, it wasn't through a doorway that you are likely to use, even if they were not that high level."

"So they used the doorway that is hidden or hard to get to?"

"I never said that. You were the one who came to the conclusion that a good detective would," Ruma winked.

Hera smiled and decided not to say anything else. She was never sure what to do when guides started to jump rope with the line of what they could say. What if the system realized something was happening and punished them for it? That wasn't something she was willing to take the chance on.

Just after leaving the safety cube, Ruma turned back to Hera, "Once again, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you. Also, I understand if you decide not to try any other challenges right now. I know you are pressed for time. But do come by in the future to complete them. It would be a lot of fun to participate when I can actually customize my things."

"Oh? You weren't doing that? I figured since you made the challenges, the basic statues were the ones you wanted to use."

"You're not entirely wrong, but there are some small things that I can't use if I don't know the person. I know it sounds a bit weird, but it's part of the whole 'only a few people know about us' thing."

"That sucks. But I'll be sure to try to complete them all," Hera nodded, "Oh, also. Did you write that book? The one in the forge?"

"I did, with the help of a few other guides. Why?"

"Can I buy a copy? I want to start crafting my own gear, and that book is amazing! It's so well written."

Ruma's eyes sparkled with the compliment, "Well, thank you very much! I put a lot of work into that. You know that was a new addition, and you are the first to ever read it. Previously there wasn't any way to help you like that, which caused a lot of people to give up on that particular challenge. That's why I wanted to make a book to help, and all I had was time during the past few centuries. For you buying a copy…. I have to check with those who helped me make it, but I think we can make something work. Heck, maybe we can even start sharing the books we have with you guys. As long as they are not biographies or mention actual guides, it shouldn't be a problem," Ruma was talking more to himself than to Hera at that point, "Yeah, that might work. We need to have a meeting, a big one."

"Sorry about that?" Hera said with a puzzled expression. She wasn't sure if a big meeting was something good or not.

"Oh no. Please, don't worry about it. I'll let you know when I get some answers. Also, is it ok if I keep in touch?" Ruma asked.

"Of course! You don't even have to ask. So far, there was only one guide that I honestly wasn't excited about getting messages or anything from."

"Percy?" Ruma asked.

"How did you know? Is he that obnoxious with everyone?"

"Not really. I mean, he is… a lot. But he isn't that bad when you get to know him. As for how I know about that… Well… Guides are ancient beings that can do almost whatever we want all the time. Eventually, everything gets a little bit boring. Except for one thing," Ruma leaned over, "Gossip."

"You guys were gossiping about me?" Hera gasped.

"We were, especially after the challenges. They told me the story about when you all got drunk because of a bad batch of beer. And how you helped Nina and Talpa reconcile. I wouldn't go as far as saying they wouldn't have done so without you, but you played a big part in that. And about how you and Percy kept throwing jabs at each other when he showed up with Peaches."

"Oh... still, it feels weird to know people are talking about you behind your back. Even if it's good things."

"Well.. that's fair. But it's not like we are any different from your friends. I'm sure they also talk about you when you are not around."

Hera stared at Ruma with a deadpan expression, "Thanks for that thought," she said after a very long pause.

Ruma laughed, making a sound similar to that of a rockslide, "Sorry about that. Are you claustrophobic? I have a great one about your brain."

"The one that we have no problem with our brain being trapped inside our skull?" Hera asked.

Ruma stared at her, genuinely disappointed, "You already knew that one?"

"Yeah. sorry."

"I mean, win some, lose some. I'll catch you later, Hera."

"I'll see you later. Wish me luck," Hera sighed as Ruma left, and she deactivated her spells. People were already a bit on edge after this. Now she had to think about how she was going to break the news that they would have to find another way out or complete all the remaining challenges in just a few hours.