Chapter 691 - Last piece of the puzzle (Patreon)

After the sunset, the group made a few lights on top of this pillar while Hera worked on making a place for them to stay. Nimbus did try to find a cave nearby where he could just fly to drop everyone off, but unfortunately, the only cave close by was almost at the bottom of this cliff. The Sentinel could try flying everyone there, and maybe, with the help of the rest of the court, he could make all those trips, but it was likely that he would lose the remainder of the mana Hera gave him either in the last trip or as he was coming back to pick up the Empress. He considered taking two people, plus Hera, down since it should be possible to carry two people as long as he wasn't trying to get higher. But that also was a gamble, especially when considering Mylo. In the end, everyone agreed that it was better not to do that today, especially since they would have to figure something else out for the morning. They couldn't depend on Hera and Nimbus to move between the pillars all the time. If they did that, they could only move one pillar a day, and in a place with hundreds, they would take way too long to reach the next doorway.

In the end, they decided to sleep on top of the mountain, despite the intense cold and winds, and this was why Hera was making a house. Another thing they were trying to do  was to light a fire or a way to warm themselves, but no flame could withstand the open air in this place. The Empress, on the other hand, had no problems with that, thanks to her fire elemental armor. She did offer to use the spell on the rest of the group, but since she never tried doing that with others before, it would take some time to test it out, and they asked her to just finish up the house so they could warm themselves some other way.

Hera didn't take long to finish a place for them to sleep, which was just a hole in the ground instead of a large structure. She felt it was better to lower the floor than to raise something that could break down because of the wind.

"So we are sleeping out in the open?" Bonnie asked as Hera told everyone she was done.

"What? No. I made a full thing down there. We don't have a door, though. Come," Hera gestured for everyone to come down the hole and showed the underground bunker she created. It was just a large room with a single entrance, but it wasn't too deep. In a worst-case scenario where it caved in, they wouldn't be buried in stone, just mildly annoyed and injured.

"Can you make just a stone slab? We can prop it against the opening to keep it closed," Blue suggested.

"Sure. I can also just make a sliding door, but unless someone else can shape rocks, I think I'm the only one who can open it," Hera showed how she could make the entrance.

"I can probably open it too, but then that's it. Enchanting the walls to grow wouldn't work all that well," Shane looked over, "But I can do this," she touched the floor and made it become warm. Not too much, just enough to keep the place comfortable.

"Oh, this is brilliant," Helena said with a smile, "But if we are going to heat up food, we should do it outside. Just in case."

"Good call, and honestly, I think we should just rest. It's not like we can do anything right now," Adriel looked around, "I want to change the configuration of my drones. I think I can make it capable of taking two, maybe three people and at least keep the altitude we are at."

"How confident are you in doing that?"  Alex turned to the elf.

"Like… 90%. Maybe a bit less. I'm more worried about the winds than anything else. But after I tweak some stuff, I think they will be able to stay still even by themselves."

"Is there a danger you might lose your relic doing that?"  Hera asked.

"I mean… Maybe. But I'll be careful. Also, the relic itself has a return function, kind of like an eject button. Only the core comes back to me, but it's better than losing it," Adriel took out his drones and showed the small piece that would jump back to him if anything were to happen.

"Also, if he loses the relic, he can make another one. You have the crafter role, right?" Shane turned to Adriel.

"Yeah. You got the blueprint, too, didn't you? If you ever lose or break your relic, you can make a new one as long as you find the right materials and use enough mana," Adriel was focused on the drones and how to change them to fit what he wanted. Instead of the trio, he was merging them all into one, using the extra rotating engines to create almost a barrier around the new drone. Those side fans would fight off against the wind currents and stabilize the drone, but it was something he would only test out in the morning. Doing that in the middle of the night didn't seem like a good idea.

As they were getting ready to sleep, Shane went outside to 'do her thing' and get some directions to the next room. Hera used a soundproof bubble to make an area where she could talk without problems before heading back down. It didn't take long for the enchantress to get back with a somewhat frustrated expression.

"Is everything ok?" Mylo asked.

"Yeah. I just got less information than I had hoped. Hera, I'm going to need your help. Can you come outside?" Shane was leaning on the entrance, which was still wide open without the slab that would be a door.

"Sure," Hera walked out, climbing up the makeshift steps and back to the top of the pillar with Shane right beside her, "So, what is the problem?"

Shane gestured around, asking for a soundproof bubble, and Hera obliged, "Right, so, here is the thing. I got the directions to the doorway and one extra piece of information. Well, two, actually. First, we can only use that doorway after we complete a specific dungeon in this room. And that there is only one dungeon here, but I couldn't get any more information about it. Apparently, that was everything they could tell me. Like, I get it, but it does feel a bit frustrating."

"Oh, that's fine. I can use my questions to find the dungeon. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah. Thanks, by the way. Also, this is a big one. The next room will be in a place where we can find people. Like, not random people, but our people. Our civilization."

"Really? We are that close to home?" Hera gasped.

"Yeah, but I don't know where we will end up. We might need to travel for a few more days or weeks to get back to any place we knew. Or we might just be a day away. "

"Either way, that's great. And, in the worst-case scenario, we can just leave the MAZE and take a plane back home. Or to Brilansis since it's the closest place to Boothudurn."

"That's true. It's just going to be annoying to get our gear through customs. That is always a pain in the ass."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. You never traveled with your equipment to a new guild, have you?"

"No."

"Yeah, it's annoying. You need special suitcases and then write down all the information about your items, then pay an extra fee for traveling with them. Not to mention the special locks. And even after all that, sometimes the company loses your luggage, and that is a whole new can of worms. Not something I want to deal with again. But, it might be better to do that than to have to spend weeks traveling just to get back to the Royal Explorers," Shane let out a long sigh, "Anyway, I'll make sure no one comes up. Call the guide, and I'll see you soon."

"Thanks, I'll do that," Hera smiled and called her court to be on the lookout. Then, she took out her Safety Cube and activated it while still inside the soundproof bubble. When the dark cube appeared around her, she called out for the guide, "I call upon the guide of the Golden Dragon Archipelago. As an explorer, I've proven that my motives are pure."

At first, nothing happened, but then she noticed small lights coming from the sky. That was weird since she was inside a safety cube, and above her, there was nothing but darkness. But it matched the room itself since there was no moon here. Yet, the lights continued to fall as if they were coming from someplace beyond. Slowly, those small specks started to approach, and Hera slowly realized that they weren't just lights but paper lights, or at least miniature versions of them. Some would look like they were from a Chinese festival, others had a more Western look to them, and even a couple very colorful diamond-shaped lanterns that were Brazilian in origin. When Blue traveled there, she came back showing pictures, and those were part of one of the festivals they had..

Suddenly, something seemed to jump from one light to the next, then the next, and the next. Until it jumped towards Hera, spinning on a sextuple somersault before landing with its back to the Empress. They had a long body in a mix of gold and red before turning to her, revealing a face that could only be described as a Chinese new year's dragon. He jumped around a few times, dancing and keeping with the festive theme until he stopped with his mouth open close to Hera. There was some white fur under his chin, like a beard that formed in a big smile. His eyes were blue, and he had short stubby golden horns. The Empress half expected someone to pop out from inside his mouth, yet, the dragon started speaking.

"Hi there! You are Hera, right? I mean, I already know your name. But the others say that asking is polite, but it just sounds like nonsense. I mean, you know that I know your name, so asking again feels like we are both being made fun of," the dragon didn't stay still as he talked. He moved from side to side as his large head kept facing Hera.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, that does feel a bit weird," Hera nodded.

"I know, right?! Anyway, I'm Tailou! Nice to meet you!" the new year's dragon said happily.

"Nice to meet you too. I know you know, but I'm Hera. And this is Daskka," she gestured to her herald.

"Now that part I get. It makes sense for you to introduce yourself. That's the polite thing to do," Tailou nodded.

"I agree," Hera smiled.

"Now, do you have a question in mind, or are you just looking for the information Shane is missing?"

"Honestly, the information first; if I have time, then I have other questions."

"Ok then, here. This is where you will find the dungeon. It's the only one in the room, and it's called 'The Last Moonless Night,'" Tailou showed the map that Hera currently had available to her and the mark where the dungeon was located. They weren't that far away from it, but it was still on a different pillar, "You need to come to the left and see one of the caves close to the top. There are three caves. You need to go to the left one if you are looking from here," he pointed to a different spot to make clear which cave was.

"The Last Moonless Night. Is this why we don't have a moon here?" Hera asked.

"It's related, but it's not the same thing. You guys came on a weird day. Today there is an eclipse where the moon doesn't show up. This happens once every 3 months. When one of the moons has no light and passes through the second one."

"Second one?" Hera asked.

"Yeah, we have two moons here."

"Oh? This is cool," Hera smiled.

"It's super cool!" Tailou nodded vigorously.

There was a pause before the Empress continued, "Do I have any time for more questions, or this is it? Actually, no. First, is this all the information I can get about the dungeon?"

"That and that you will stay there for a few days, but you can get food inside, so don't worry about that, for your first question. You don't have time, but you can ask me one question. I wish I could give you more, but that's the limit. Oh, and don't get anything too complicated."

Hera looked down at Daskka, "I'm going to take a page out of your book," she turned back to Tailou, "If there was one thing about this room you could tell me, what would it be?"

Tailou stopped and opened a broad smile, "One thing? I would say… if you wait until both moons are full and overlap, you might find what happened at the end of the dungeon."

"How long will it be until then?"

"Around two weeks."

"Ok, we also need to complete the dungeon before leaving this room, right? Is that a one-time thing, or do I have to complete it every time I come here?"

"You need to complete it every time you come here," Tailou nodded.

"Humm… Ok, I'm not sure I will be able to do that soon, but I'll try."

"I think you might have a chance sooner than you imagine. But this is all the time you have, unfortunately. I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you anything else. Can I talk to you later?"

"Don't worry about it. It was lovely to meet you, and of course, you can talk to me later. I want to have a party with all the guides I know once this whole thing is over."

"Oooh, I would love that. Laika and Nina talked about the last party they went to at your place, that seemed like a lot of fun!"

"You already know them? That's even better. I'll be sure to invite them too."

"Ok, but now I have to go. Thanks for everything, and… take care of Luna," with that, the new year's dragon jumped into the darkness and vanished in a firework.

Hera gave it a minute before dropping the spell and going back to their temporary house. Now that they knew where the dungeon was located, all they had to do was beat it and go back home.