MAZE - The endless Quest

After a while, the noise she was making was enough to wake up Blue. Hera apologized, but the controller had already gotten up. It was 7 AM when the duo left the hotel, grabbing some fruits to eat and heading towards the guild. Blue wanted to spend some time in an ATR. She felt like she was close to something.

Just after they rented the rooms, Hera received a message from Bonnie saying she was on her way back. Hera told her where they were so they could meet up.

Inside the training room, Hera asked her trainer to show different types of spells. She had to buy the training program for each of the spells. That was a feature that only people who used spells with the concept used, and they were very costly. She had asked for three spells. A fire arrow to see an attack spell. A bark skin buff so she could see a continuous effect. Lastly, she asked for a healing spell. Hera was curious about how it would actually work and interact with her own mana.

Just those 3 programs on her trainer would cost her 750 gold, but at least it was a one time fee. After confirming the purchase, Hera realized that she had just spent almost 1 000 gold in just three days like it was nothing. Previously, any large purchases had to be planned with months in advance. Making a promise to herself that she would be more careful with her spending, Hera focused on understanding the mana.

The fire arrow was weirder than she expected. The mana appeared very quickly and vanished even before the spell hit the target. She didn't see a trail or something like that, just a lingering feeling where the arrow hit. The other two spells had such a different usage of mana that Hera couldn't even understand it. She spent most of her time focusing on the fire arrow. She had almost given up for the day when Blue started celebrating.

"I got a buff!"

"Nice! What is it?" Hera asked.

Blue showed the effect to her friend. When she activated the buff, almost nothing changed aside from strands of her hair standing up. The spell covered her body in static electricity. The more she moved around, the more it would charge, and after she attacked, a small electrical current would pass through her target, giving a puny paralyzing effect.

"The skill says the paralysis duration varies according to my strength. My trainer says that a person at my level will be numb for around two seconds. It seems weak, but two seconds in a fight can make a huge difference. Besides, while I'm moving around, the electricity creates a repulsion effect, and that can give me more room to move. Here, try to hit me."

They went back to their training, but Hera wasn't able to get anything out of it. Soon Bonnie arrived at the guild, and the three meet up.

"So, how was everything at home?" Hera asked.

"Weird... I figured out some things that I'm not sure I wanted to know."

"Care to elaborate?" Blue asked after waiting a moment, Bonnie still had a faraway stare.

Bonnie blinked and looked at the controller with a weird expression, as if she had just realized that someone was talking to her, "Oh.. Yeah... You know the debt I told you guys?"

"Yes, we are aware that your dad sucks, and you have a lot of debt. You talk a lot about it despite the saying you don't want to share that with anyone," Blue regretted the comment immediately. Not for Bonnie's reaction, but for the look that Hera gave her.

"Sorry about that. But in the end, it was all a lie. That contract, the debt that I have, my mom. Everything just... lies."

"Bonnie, what happened?" Hera leaned towards Bonnie.

"My mom was paid to have me. My father gave her 100 thousand gold for her to have his baby."

"That's disgusting," Blue twisted her nose.

"What? Oh no. They never had sex. It was through artificial insemination. After that, my mom received a salary to take care of me. Her own daughter. I guess that makes her more a nanny than a mother," Bonnie chuckled, but her eyes proved that she didn't find the notion amusing.

Hera and Blue looked at each other. The entire situation was proof that the truth was stranger than fiction.

"But that doesn't mean she doesn't love you. I mean, she left your father because he was pushing you too far, right?" Blue said after thinking for a while.

"I guess... anyway, can we talk about something else? I need time to figure all that out."

"Sure, we can talk about how Blue figured out how to use a buff."

"Really?" Bonnie perked up a bit. It seems like the topic of magic was the best way to distract the woman.

They talked for a while and later were joined in by Leo and Alex, who had just returned. All gathered, the group looked for a good place to have lunch and watch the assault on the wall.

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Becca was walking around one of the tents in the back. Her equipment and crew were all in the protected area, together with the lower-level explorers who came to help. She understood why she was here. She was just level 47, and even Bright Night and Dark Star were inside the protected area. Outside of it was a place that only the strongest could inhabit.

Her first few hours of work for the day was all about the support crew. The brave explorers that came to places far beyond their levels risked their lives for the assault's success. Among them, there was a woman just level 18, but she had an exceedingly strong enchantment skill. Becca already had made a round of interviews with all the supports. Now she was helping to do a headcount of all of them before the beginning of the assault.

Some of them had buffs that only lasted half an hour. In order to make the best of it, they were ordered to wait until five minutes before the assault and then rush towards the protected area. After they arrived, Becca would run towards her vantage point to broadcast the assault. She would go alone since the rest of her crew was under her level.

After the last mage entered the tent, Becca gave a thumbs up to her crew and dashed off to the vantage point. She had a small floating camera following her. It was a piece of enchanted equipment that could lock to her position and follow her around. She would use it for more dangerous shootings, but the video's quality wasn't the best. Activating her skills, she managed to zoom through the area, pointing the camera towards the wall.

"This, my dear viewers, is the formation that will be used. The 20 melee warriors in front will focus on opening a path close to the ground, while the mages and archers will aim for the wall's upper layer."

She knew most people wouldn't be able to see what was going on at the time. Running at max speed with her [Fury] activated, Becca could reach 30km/h. If needed, she could go even faster, but the camera feed would be awful. In less than a minute, she arrived at her vantage point.

With a big smile, positioned the camera to see her profile, "This is it, everyone, a moment to go down in history. It's been 62 years since the last wall was broken. Now we are reaching a once in a lifetime event. Are you ready to become legends?"

The assault team roared as the camera panned towards them, some already activating buffs.

"Remember, we need to break an entire collum. If any part of the wall is still connected to the other side by the time the reset starts the wall will fix herself. If that happens, anyone in the middle of the wall needs to rush back if you stay there, you will die. We choose this room exactly because of its shorter height. It's only ten meters up, let's tear it down!"

Becca looked to the sides and saw the fire starting on the walls, "Here it comes. The moment the fire is gone, you all attack. I'll be timing the assault, if it gets too close to the reset, I'll warn you."

The wall light up, the flames licking the roof of the room. It changed colors, turning once again to the dark flames from before. Suddenly, the flames were extinguished.

"NOW!!" Becca yelled.

What followed was absolute mayhem. The warriors jumped forward and started to tear down the stone using their weapons, hands, and anything they could use. Above them could only be described as a warzone. Explosions of fire, ice, and rock resonated with each other, creating larger blast. Arrows flew from the back line. Some hit with the impact of a ballista, destroying large chunks of the wall, Others were closer to what Toxic Rain had done before. Small arrows that corroded and weakened the structure.

Little by little, the explosions began to disappear in the opening created on the wall. Becca tried to get a better angle at the action, moving more to the side. It helped a bit, but not enough to show everything. After ten minutes of the assault, Becca cast a spell that she had created. A small magic camera appeared in front of her, and she sent it towards the wall gap. She picked her tablet and stared at it. A few moments later, she frowned and cast the spell once again. This time giving more mana to the construct to increase the invulnerability time.

With a nod, Becca showed the image on her tablet to the screen while speaking, "Here we go guys, 10 minutes in we dug 10 meters of the wall. We still have 35 minutes to break the other 40 meters. Time your berserker skills right."

Becca finished speaking and then showed a small earpiece from where she was giving information to the rest. During the next minutes, some shouts came from the backline. A few of the attackers showed visible differences. Some had an aura around them, while others seemed to wear the elements they were using as armor.

The blasts became louder and more violent. Becca tried to play it off as if it wasn't a dangerous thing, but she couldn't be confident while talking to the melee fighters in the middle of the tunnel. Becca kept giving updates about their progress the entire time, as if she was narrating horserace.

When the timer reached the 38 mark, there was a huge shout coming from the wall. Mages stopped firing, and after a few moments, the fighters appeared leaving the gap. Becca rushed towards it and saw the opening that was created. She activated the camera spell once again while the team watched her expectantly.

"Unless the wall has some weird tricks. We did it!"

Some cheered, but others still kept analyzing the opening, making sure there was no part connecting the two pieces of the wall. After a few moments, the fire began once again. However, instead of becoming a black flame, the fire turned white. When it vanished, the wall was no more.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a loud cheer from all the assault team members. People were jumping, hugging each other, and celebrating in their own ways. Becca was tossed up by Wildborn, who appeared out of nowhere and then left after placing her on the ground.

Becca turned around to see the new area that was revealed for the first time.

"We did it. We did..." she stopped talking when she noticed what was beyond the wall. Hundreds of moss-covered veiny pulsating eggs seemed to be spread around the other side of the now gone barrier.

"What the hell is that?" Azure Chain asked.

"Hold up. Some are hatching," Toxic Rain yelled.

Becca looked towards where the hunter pointed. One of the eggs opened like flowers, and a weird creature came out of it. It looked like a hairless monkey, with pointed ears and red eyes. Its skin was completely white, aside from the edge of the fingers where big red claws meet the flesh.

Seeing the creature sent a shiver to Becca's spine. They seemed wrong. More eggs started hatching. Other types of monkeys were joined by wolves, rats, and taller and spindly creatures, all with the same color and claws. In a short time, hundreds of those creatures had been born.

The explorers could be tired, but they were a team of High-level individuals. In a few seconds, they were already setting up a defense perimeter, ready to face the creatures. Without warning, the monsters dashed towards the encampment covering the 100 meter distance between them and the explorers in just 3 seconds.

At first, the team managed to hold the creatures back. But their numbers were staggering. For each monster that was killed, ten more would take its place. Becca was sent to the back, being told to run to the protected area. However, the woman refused to go and just stood in the back, not wanting to miss the action.

With each passing moment, the explorers were pushed back. One of the ice mages was caught alone in, and a group of creatures ripped him apart. Not only that, but the monsters started to eat the man. A few fighters tried to reach him, but the horde of monsters refused to let them pass.

Becca couldn't look away, the camera following her eyes. She activated her [Observe] trying to get some information about the creatures.

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Wendigo (Newborn) Level - ??

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The monsters finished their meals and started to shiver. Sickening cracks and rips came from the creatures as if their body was crushing itself.

When the sounds stopped, the creatures raised, showing large ice spices coming out of their knees and elbows. As they roared, Becca could see their cold breath forming in front of them.

She turned and started to run towards the protected area. Before she reached it, screams came out of the tent as a group of white hairless wolves looking monsters ripped through the side of the tent and started their feast.

One of the monsters lunged at Becca, who pushed him away, the camera being smashed into the ground in the process. Becca looked around, seeing all the carnage around her. She noticed a few members of her crew running towards the jungle and dashed towards them, hoping she would reach her friends before the bloodthirsty hairless monkey that was closing in.