MAZE - The endless Quest

"Ok, Hera, I'll meet you downstairs. Be careful not to wake Blue up, ok?" Leo yelled as he kept hitting the door.

Blue groaned and pulled a pillow over her head, "Whyyyyy?"

Hera giggled and went to the door to stop the hunter.

"Oh, hi, Hera. Take your time, there is no rush," Leo said as she opened the door.

"I have a feeling that if I let you keep going, someone is going to get hurt. Besides, we are not the only ones in the hotel. I doubt everyone is fine with you screaming like that," she replied, closing the door.

"Fair point, I already sent a text to Bonnie and Alex, letting them know we are going out. If everything goes well, we can meet them for lunch."

"Sure. Let's just stop by a bakery or something. I want to grab something to eat on the road."

Agreeing with the suggestion, the two of them got some pastries, and in less than one hour, they were heading towards the city gate. There were more people than they were expecting at this time in the morning. It wasn't even ten, and various groups were leaving or arriving in the town.

Hera wondered if there was something that only happened in the morning or if it was just a way to use the sunlight. Among the groups that were arriving, a few looked very tired and worn out. It wouldn't be a surprise if they spent the entire night traveling to the city.

"Do you have any idea what is to west of here?" Leo asked.

"No clue. I never looked too much into the map to the far west, but now I'm curious too. When we come back, I'll take a look," Hera replied.

Leaving the city, they spent half an hour walking through the road.

"Ok, so first of all. Tell me how you are going to get the skill," Hera asked.

"According to the compendium, I have to befriend a monster or animal. It says the easiest way is to find a stray dog or something and then let them go when I come to the MAZE, but that feels mean. The idea is to create an emotional connection. Most advice that the compendium gave was about creating threats and saving the monster or something like that. That's just wrong. I mean, I get it, that is the most effective way, but still."

Hera nodded, "Yeah, doing that to an animal is not ok. But the idea of using dogs and cats is a good one. You know they are a thing back in Brinefront, right? I told you guys about the statue."

"I can't say I relate to that last part. I like both cats and dogs. But I understand your concern. You don't want a simple pet. You want a partner, right?"

"Exactly! That's why I thought about the small frog. I did some research, and they never stop growing even if they reach the maximum height. I could try one of the regular frogs, but the rain frog seems way more helpful."

"Ok, then. I think I know what we should look for."

Hera pulled Yarnball's string and held it in front of her. With a long strand dangling on the other side of her hand. Focusing for a moment, she considered how to phrase the question. Nothing said that she couldn't be specific when using the dowsing rod, "Show us the closest giant rain frog that is alone and can be tamed by Leo."

For a moment, nothing happened. Hera looked at the thread, worried she might have done something wrong. Then she felt like Yarnball was pulling her mana, slowly at first, but then it became hungrier. She felt all her mana leave her body, and then she felt tired and lethargic. Yarnball felt almost like a leech sucking out everything inside of her. Finally, the thread moved and pointed towards the northeast. Hera quickly made a line in the ground using her foot before the string went limp in her hand.

"Hera? Are you ok?" Leo asked, seeing the explorer's face. She was pale, very pale, and her eyes were bloodshot. If he hadn't watched it all happen, he wouldn't believe she was fine just a few moments ago.

"I'm not sure. I'm very tired. I guess I overdid it a little. It was the first time I used this ability, and I wasn't expecting this," she replied, trying to smile.

"Sit down. We can deal with this later. You need to rest," Leo held Hera's arm, helping her to walk.

"First, let me get the map. I need to mark the direction," Hera picked her tablet and drew a line, doing her best to follow the direction Yarnball gave her.

Leo gave Hera some rations he had brought. She refused at first, but a growl from her stomach made her realize how hungry she was. After around half an hour, Hera had eaten all the power bars she had, and most of her water was gone, but she was feeling well enough to keep going.

They walked towards the direction Hera had marked. Focusing on the surrounding area to see if they would find the rain frog that Leo wanted. A couple of times, they had to duck down and go around a large group of frogs. It was one thing if they had the entire party here, but fighting 6 frogs with just the two of them wasn't a good idea.

After passing through the third large group of frogs, Leo turned to Hera, worried, "Can you tell me what happened back there? When you used your item."

Hera looked down, "I honestly don't know. It was the first time I ever used that part of Yarnball. I wasn't expecting it to do that to me. The description said that the effect depends on the user's strength. I figured it meant that it would work better as I leveled up, but it felt almost like a parasite eating away my energy."

"That's creepy, to say the least."

"You have no idea how it felt. It was even creepier. It was like being a battery for something. I'm just not sure if it was a regular thing or just because of what I asked it to find."

Leo nodded, " Yeah, it was really specific. Maybe that has something to do with it. "

"Maybe, I'll ask Bonnie what she thinks about it later, and Helena."

They kept looking for a giant rain frog for some time. Hera was still worried about Yarnball's effect. It had caught her completely off guard. What if she had used the ability in a more serious situation?

She was deep in thought, considering what she could do to avoid those types of scenarios when a loud squeaky noise stopped Leo.

"Did you hear that?" the hunter asked.

"No, what?" a few moments passed, and another squeaky sound came from their left.

They looked at each other and quietly moved towards the noise. They found a small cliff, just five meters tall. At the bottom of it, there was a small pond and a single rain frog about the size of a bulldog.

"That one is bigger than the last, isn't it?" Hera asked.

"I'm not sure. It looks less bulky, but a bit taller."

The frog they saw had a deep green pattern around its back. It also was a bit more elongated than the first one. Giving it a close look, the frog was limping and having trouble getting inside the pond.

"So, what's the plan now?" Hera whispered to Leo.

"Stay here. I'll go down there and try to befriend him."

Hera stared at the hunter for a moment, "That's the plan? Just go there and say 'will you be my friend?'"

"Well, I'm going to offer it food. I got some bait in the town. Then I'm going to try to show that I'm not a threat and make it feel comfortable around me."

"So kind like meeting a wild dog?"

"Yeah, close to it."

"Ok, it looks hurt, so here," Hera gave her first aid kit to Leo, "If you can try to fix its leg. I'll be up here looking if something else shows up. Or if it starts to attack you."

"Deal, but try not to jump if it attacks me, only if I call for help."

"Yeah, not gonna happen. We are all being way too reckless. The moment that thing becomes aggressive, I'm jumping in."

The hunter attempted to persuade Hera with no success. After giving up, he walked to the side and went down the cliff. He approached the rain frog carefully, who noticed the hunter rather quickly. The frog squeaked once more, staring at Leo. The hunter stopped and stayed completely still. A few minutes passed while the two kept staring at each other. The first to break the tension was the frog when it looked around after some wind rustled the leaves of the trees.

Hera watched this little dance between the hunter and the frog. Every time Leo took a step closer to the creature, it would turn around, squeak loudly and prepare to attack. Leo would place another piece of the bait near him and wait until the beast relaxed.

It didn't take long for Hera to get bored watching that and started to focus on other things. She read a bit about the valley of frogs, trying to get ready for when they were going to challenge the dungeon. Hera kept glancing out of the tablet from time to time, making sure nothing was coming closer to Leo.

Hera started to practice the light spell once more. She felt like she was getting closer to do it, but there was still something missing. After several tries, with her mana already at half, Hera looked down to the cliff again. Leo was now around five meters away from the frog. He was still leaving a trail of bait as he got closer.

Hera looked behind her and was caught off guard by the sunlight directly in her eye. She turned around and blinked, activating her [Pulse] to be sure nothing was coming closer. Thankfully, there was no creature in her range. She moved toward the shadows, and something clicked inside her head. She was thinking about the result as if it would be a lightbulb or a spotlight. But the way Bonnie and Helena had used it was more like a ball of light, something closer to the sun.

Once again, trying with the new image in her mind, Hera wanted to mimic the effect the sun would have. An omnidirectional light that could light up everything it touched. Focusing on her finger, a small glimmer appeared. She pumped more mana into it, and suddenly, the light turned into a blinding flash. It became so bright that it looked like someone had turned on a floodlight. Just as quickly as it began, the light disappeared.

"Hera! What the hell?" Leo yelled.

"Sorry, sorry. My bad," Hera was still blinking, unable to see a thing at the moment.

"What happened?"

"I was trying a spell. I guess I overdid it."

"Just don't do it again, I was close to it, but now the frog is scared. I'm going to have to start all over."

"Sorry again," Hera said.

It took ten minutes for the explorer to recover her sight. And another hour to Leo get back the progress he had lost. During that time, Hera focused on recovering her mana, even though she wanted to attempt to use the light spell again, it was better to wait.

Another hour went by, Hera was glad they weren't too far from the city. At least she could keep browsing through the internet. A notification popped up, showing a text from Helena.

"Hello, Sweetie.

I have some news. On Friday afternoon I'm stopping by Brinefront, and I want to talk to you about how you can help me.

Later, I can talk to Bonnie about the order and recruit her if she's up for it.

If you can't be in the city on Friday, let me know.

Hope you are having fun.

kisses"

Hera smiled. She wasn't able to get any quests from the order these past few days. Every quest available was for different layers or to harvest creatures she had yet to find. There were other quests on the guild, but they were mostly about hunting frogs or delivering goods. However, she had yet to look for dungeon related quests. Thinking about the contribution points and what she could use them with, Hera almost didn't hear Leo shouting for help.

"Hera, come here quickly."

Hera looked towards Leo and saw him holding the frog is his arms, he had a worried expression, and the frog seemed to be bleeding from its mouth. She quickly went down the cliff and tried to inspect the frog.

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Giant Rain Frog (Poisoned)

Type: Procyon gallaris

A rare breed of giant frog that only is born out of 10 million eggs. A proficient digger that can't jump as most frogs do. However, its legs can propel the frog forward at high speeds. It's high-pitched squeak, It's a singular battle cry. After some time, the squeak has the ability to harm those that hear it, disorienting them.

The species can grow up to 2 meters tall, fully grown Giant Rain Frogs can break down reinforced iron walls with a tackle.

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"It is poisoned!" Hera gasped.

"How can you tell?"

"Use your inspect."

Leo stared at the frog, "Crap, do you think they would let us go into the town with it?"

"I have no idea, but there are no better options. Let's hurry, he? She? it seems really bad."

Leo nodded, and the pair rushed towards the town gate.