MAZE - The endless Quest

That was more information than she wanted, but she saw a page where people were giving a step-by-step tutorial when searching. If she walked towards Brinefront, it would take her two days to make the journey. Instead of going blind, she wanted to get a complete map of the room before searching for it. If she could mark the places where her goal could be, it would be easier to look for the legend.

Luckily, the places where the cove seemed to be were all close to Hazelpond. The farthest one would be on the other side of the cavern. A ferry would help people cross the waters a few times per day. That was the best way to go to the other side. Since it would also depend on others and a time frame, Hera decided to leave that option for last. She had two coves on the same side she was already in, and as long as it wouldn't be a dungeon or something too long, she could reach both of them in a single day.

This town was much more populated than Brinefront, or at least, that's what it felt like. Hazelpond was about half the size of Brinefront, but it leads to the next layer. A lot of people would stay here but actually hunt in the next room. The streets felt stuffy, and the fact that most of the town was built in walkways above the lake made going anywhere feel like a chore.

Hera stopped by a store to get a few supplies. She would only need the necessary stuff for today, some rations, water, and a flashlight just in case. While looking at the forums, some people said they found the legend inside a cave. Hera could use the light spell, but it wasn't very sustainable. Besides, there was no reason to depend so heavily on mana all the time.

While waiting in line, Hera looked around the store. It had some camping gear that could help if she had to look for a place to sleep in the wild. The tents could help, although they would be very cumbersome. What caught Hera's attention was a set of stones that she could place in a fire to ward off monsters. It wasn't expensive, but she didn't want to go back to the house before heading out. Leaving the stones in the store, Hera paid for her supplies and left towards the city's west exit.

The area around Hazelpond was vastly different from the surroundings of Brinefront. Instead of a more or less dense forest, Hera was now in a large swamp. The trees were bent to the side, reminding her of palm trees. She could hear the water splashing under her feet. The one good thing about all this was that at least there was no sand to get inside her shoes.

Hera kept following the path to the west, checking her map for the location of the cove. After a couple of hours of walking, she got close to the first location. Hera looked to the side and saw a rock formation on the swamp's edge, making a clear division between the ocean and the land.

A couple of hundred meters to the front, the rocks went deeper into the landmass, forming the first cove that she was looking for. Hera walked to the formation, climbing it to see what was inside the area.

In the cove, she saw a small stone platform that would lead to a cave. As the waves crashed into the rocks, Hera started to get worried. She didn't see anyone talking about high tide in the room, but at the same time, no one said that she didn't have to worry about it.

She watched for a few minutes to see if there was any difference with the waves, but they seemed to be reaching the same height all the time. Feeling more confident she wouldn't end up drowning, Hera looked around to see a path to reach the cave. In the center of the rock formation, there was a path that leads to the other side. She would need to climb down the last part, but it was the only way she could reach the cave.

Hera turned around and dropped from the rocks. She only heard the splashing water as a large four-legged creature rushed towards her. She dove to the side, and the monster slammed against the rocks. It's tail trashed around, hitting the explorer's left arm. Hera stumbled back and looked at her assailant.

It looked almost like a crocodile but with smoother skin, less pointy teeth, and larger limbs. In a way, it reminded Hera of a less agile salamander. It was clear that the creature wasn't able to twist its body with ease as it moved. Hera quickly activated her Affinity Sight and [Observe]

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Petite Crocodile (Mud Affinity)

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Hera gasped, reading the name. How could that be a petite crocodile? The thing looked like it was about her size. If those were the small ones, what would a big one be?

Before the creature got back into its attacking position, Hera threw a poison needle towards it trying to give it as much power as she could. She had yet test it on a real monster. The spell hit the crocodile's snout, and it seemed to have no effect. The beast jumped towards Hera, turning its head to the side and opening its mouth. The explorer dodged to the side and slashed the creature's back. Before it could move again, she attacked two more times, creating gashes on its hide.

Much like with the frogs, it was easy not to be hit as long as she stayed spinning around the creature. As she went back to old habits, the crocodile slammed its tail on Hera's stomach making her need to catch her breath. The monster turned around and lunged towards its meal one more time. Hera gritted her teeth and slammed Iris on the creature's jaw, shutting it close with one swing.

"Get lost!" Hera cursed while she went for another strike.

The crocodile tried to get up, but it lost strength on its legs. Foam formed on its mouth while trying to get up once more, but to no avail. Seeing the creature that debilitated, Hera slashed the back of its head a few times, trying to put it out of its misery.

It took Hera five swings, but she was finally able to cut through the monster's thick skin. With the monster on the ground, Hera checked her status. That one spell drained 200 of her mana. She attempted to make a concentrated dose, but it was still much more costly than she expected. At the same time, the strength of the poison was surprising. It took less than a minute for the crocodile to be incapable of fighting back. She wasn't sure if that was just the creature's nature that increased the poison's effectiveness or if the spell really was that strong. Hera made a mental note to look for the compendium for those crocodiles before she headed towards the path leading to the cave.

Worried she would be attacked again, Hera activated her [Hide] while moving towards the gap on the rocks. She noticed some movement to the side, but whatever it was wasn't moving towards her.

In just a few moments, Hera was climbing down towards the cave. Moving through the wet rock like this was more challenging than she imagined. She was having a hard time to get some footing, and her hands kept slipping from the stones. It took her about ten minutes to get down from the five-meter high rock wall. She could have jumped down, but the platform was made of uneven rocks. It wasn't worth it to risk herself like that just to move a bit quicker.

In the last part, Hera had to drop down from her path. As she landed, the waves crashed on her legs, making Hera stumble to the side. She almost fell, but managed to grab onto the rocks on the sides of the cove.

There was a large cave with a thin layer of water on the ground to the side of the area. Hera walked towards the entrance carefully, activating her Pulse spell to see anything close by. She took small steps to get used to the uneven foothold. The cave had a stream of water cutting through the middle of the floor. The water wasn't particularly deep, but if Hera walked on it, it would reach her knees, while to the sides, there was again just a thin layer of water before her feet touched the ground.

As she walked deeper into the cave, she could hear movement above ground. Heavy footsteps and some trashing, almost like two monsters were fighting. She stopped with the sound, worried that whatever was outside could cause the cave to crumble, but the impacts didn't move a single pebble inside the area.

Hera walked for almost ten minutes when she arrived in a larger open area. The ground was elevated and dry, with a broken wooden boat in the middle of the room. Hera carefully walked closer to it, using her pulse once more. There weren't any living things around, but inside the boat, something had mana.

Walking closer to there, she saw a journal. It looked pretty beat up. She reached towards it but stopped herself. Before touching anything here, she wanted to be sure no traps or monsters were lurking around. She spent fifteen minutes investigating the room. She found some empty bottles of something, one thing that once could have been a bedroll, but it was too degraded even for her [Observe]. To the side of the elevated platform, there was an odd formation of rocks. With her pulse, she noticed a bit of residual mana under it. Hera started to move the stones carefully, worried that she could trigger a trap. Hidden under it was set of golden coins.

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Dead Man's Gold

A set of five golden coins with skulls engraved in the middle.

You can keep the coins as they are or turn them into currency.

Value: 1 000 gold

Do you wish to turn it into currency?

[Yes] [No]

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Hera considered her options for a moment. At the moment, the gold wouldn't be much. Yet, there was no guarantee that she could make the exchange later. Still, it was something that she only found because of her quest. Maybe if she kept the coins, an opportunity to use them could appear later on. After putting the coins in her pouch, she headed towards the journal. That was the last thing she could find in here. As she touched it, a notification popped up.

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You have acquired the Last Sailor's compendium.

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She tried to move the notebook, but it was stuck to the boat. Hera picked her tablet and checked the compendium. The Last Sailor was a legend about how one day, a small boat appeared from beyond the sea. The ship had several dead crewmen and one survivor. The sailor said that they were attacked by a creature by a creature that looked like madness incarnated. He helped bury his mates and started drinking nonstop. His behavior got more and more erratic, until he disappeared, never to be seen again. There were records of a weird shanty in the compendium that the sailor kept humming to himself on the last days he was seen.

Hera grabbed her tablet and went to the quest, placing the name of the legend on the box.

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You have completed the quest Legends of Brinefront

Reward: Low-rank skill compendium

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Quest Acquired

Hidden treasure

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