Hera started her test very carefully. For the first five minutes, she walked slowly across the jungle, searching for anything that could be her target. Eventually, she found something moving. It looked like a short, hairy humanoid creature. Crouching to the side, she pulled her tablet and went to double check her notes.

  She had taken pictures of the information displayed in the reception room. After all, while it was good to memorize that kind of thing, she had better tools at her disposal.

  However, the moment the tablet screen came to light, a loud roar echoed through the jungle. Hera looked around and saw not just one or two, but a swarm of monkeys rushing towards her. She turned around and ran, but they were coming from every direction.

  The monsters crashed on top of her. Hera's heart beating fast as she tripped and fell. A glimpse of what happened on the Kobold simulation flashing in her mind. The creatures trying to eat her alive and rip her body into shreds. She turned, seeing a dozen or so monkeys about to collapse on top of her. Hera closed her eyes in fear, and suddenly everything stopped.

  The noise was gone, the smell, the feeling of moisture in the air, the feeling of dirt between her fingers. Everything was gone.

  Less than seven minutes after Hera left the reception, she was teleported back.

  "Hey, kid. Bad luck?" Peaches had a playful smile.

  "Do you know anything?" Hera grumbled as she got up from the floor.

  "Maybe. Do you have any questions?"

  "Yeah, why did everything come at me the second I went to look at my tablet?"

  "Because it's a test of your skills. Not what you can write down."

  Hera squinted while staring at Peaches, "So I can't use my tablet?"

  "Not inside there, kid."

  "What about other things?"

  "Like?"

  "Bandages, waterskin, weapons, my relic."

  "Those you can. A weapon is needed, of course. Water and bandages are fine too. Your relic is part of the reason why the test is harder," Peaches explained.

  "Right, and how can I tell what my target is? There were so many monkeys, but I couldn't see anything different in any of them."

  "That's because there isn't anything unique among them. The creature you need to find is the only one that is from another kind."

  Hera considered it for a moment while looking at the screens. She had failed to notice before, but on every video, there were two types of shadows. Three if she was counting the human. One of the shadows was everywhere, and the challenger was hiding from them. While the target was the only one that was different.

  The answer was right there, but she failed to notice it.

  With a sigh, the Explorer turned to Peaches, "Oh yeah, another thing. Why do people say it gets harder? If I rush to get the role skills, I could get them all right?"

  "In theory, yeah, but there are some restrictions. First, you can only attempt to get a role skill once per level. If you are level 3 now, only when you get to level 4 you can try again, or try to get a new one. Second, the skill that triggers the role test needs to be of a higher rank than the previous one."

  "You lost me there. What do you mean?" Hera frowned.

  Peaches let out a short sigh, "What skill triggered your quest?"

  "Hide, it reached rank 2, and then I got the quest."

  "So the next role-related skill needs to be at least rank 3 for the quest to trigger. And if your hide skill ranks to 4, the other skill needs to get to 5. Basically, the role quest only triggers for your highest rank skill. If the skill wouldn't trigger any role quest. Or already triggered one, then tough luck."

  Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Ok… but can it overlap? Like are there skills that can trigger more than one role quest?"

  Peaches smiled, "Yep. That's what some people do. Once they find a skill that can trigger multiple role quests they stick with that for a while."

  Hera nodded, considering those restrictions. It made sense. She had learned that getting skills past rank 6 was hard, and beyond that became even harder. And when it got to a point where she needed several high rank skills, it sounded almost impossible. After all, according to Mr. Greyson, and Helena, it should take decades to get a single skill to rank 8 or 9.

  "Got it. So no tablet. I have to rely on my memory. Let's try this again. I don't want to waste time," Hera cleaned the small amount of dirt and leaves out of her clothes and walked to the door.

  "See you at the next reception," she told Peaches before leaving the room once more.

  "Whatever you say, kid," the Guide chuckled.

  Hera left the room, going once more through the forest. Moving a bit faster this time, the Explorer already knew she was dealing with a jungle filled with baboons. According to the screens' information, they were creatures that used most of their senses at once, much like humans. That also meant that their senses weren't particularly sharp in a single area. And she could take advantage of that.

  Hiding in the bushes and behind trees, Hera made her way through the jungle, trying to find the shadow that matched her target. Avoiding the monkeys wasn't as hard as she imagined, but more than once, she had to jump into a large bush and wait for the creatures to move away.

  After about twenty minutes, Hera found a creature much larger than the others. A two-meter tall Silverback Gorilla, sitting in front of a fallen tree.

  The beast seemed distracted. Hera took advantage of that and sneaked towards it. She was trying to remember where was its weak spot. Unsure, Hera went back to the same routine she had while fighting the frogs. A swift strike to the back of the head.

  She got closer to the creature and swung her handaxe towards her target. The weapon impacted the monster's skull, and in response, the gorilla swung its arm around, hitting Hera on the side of her body. She went flying to the side with the impact and hit her back on the reception wall.

  "Back again?" Peaches asked.

  "That.. really... hurt," Hera coughed, trying to catch the air that escaped her lungs after the impact.

  "Yeah, you need to do it in one go, kid. Or be quick enough to avoid everything else," Peaches nodded.

  "Why did it hurt?" Hera frowned.

  "If you are caught by the other monsters, you won't fell anything. But your target gets one free shot. You won't die from their attacks, so don't worry about that. And as long as you don't get hit, you can still keep trying," the Guide explained.

  After a few moments, Hera got up, "So I can still pass even if I don't kill in one strike?"

  "Not all assassinations are done in a single move. Sometimes things go wrong."

  "Fair enough. Let me try again," Hera took a moment to analyze the gorilla's information, to understand its weakness.

  According to the screen, it would be hard to kill it through a strike on the head. The skull was too thick to be pierced by her handaxe. Her best bet would be to make it bleed out.

  Feeling a bit more confident, Hera went through the door once more. She followed the path that she used the last time, hoping her target would still be in the same place.

  There were more Baboons around when comparing with her last attempt. The groups seemed to be patrolling more intensely, but after 10 minutes, she arrived at the place where she found the silverback gorilla. Thankfully, the beast was still there, sitting in the same position it was before. The only difference was that the wound inflicted by her first attack was completely gone.

  Hera moved closer, trying to get a good angle on the beast's neck. However, the monster raised both its arms and fell backward, rolling around for a few moments while making loud noises.

  With the monster lying on its back, Hera rushed towards it and slashed at the creature's neck, hoping to cut an artery. The gorilla attempted to move away, but it wasn't fast enough. The handaxe cut cleanly through the side of its neck.

  Yet, this wasn't enough to kill the creature. It raised from the ground and dashed towards Hera, who dodged and ran back into the jungle. She could see the red stream covering the monster's torso, but the creature was in a frenzy.

  Its noise was attracting the Baboons from the area. Hera needed to be careful not to get ambushed by them. She dove behind a tree and started moving around, doing her best not to make any noise. After a few moments, when she was sure no one was looking, she activated [Hide] once more.

  Climbing up a tree, Hera hid between the branches. It was risky considering the Baboons, however, the silverback was too focused on the ground, and it was the bigger threat right now. As long as she managed to hide for long enough, she would finish the monster off.

  The gorilla kept flaying around on the forest floor, swinging its arms towards everything. Little by little, the monster started to get closer to the tree where Hera was. She looked around and attempted to jump to a different tree. However, she failed to see the three Baboons that were hidden among the branches.

  When she landed on the tree, the monkeys jumped on Hera. She let go of the branch before they could reach her, but as she fell to the ground, the gorilla turned towards her. The creature seemed to be moving slower, and it was struggling to stay awake.

  Even so, the Silverback rushed towards Hera, but it fainted before it was able to attack. Its body fell toward Hera. She tried to dodge, but the tree was too large, blocking her passage. She felt the massive body of the Gorilla crashing on top of her as the air left her lungs.

  This time, Hera saw a light just before she appeared in the reception room again.

  "Shit!"

  "Made a mistake, kid?" Peaches was looking at the Explorer from the desk in the center of the room.

  "Yeah… sorry for the outburst. I managed to kill it, but the body fell on top of me this time," Hera explained, lying down on the floor.

  "Don't worry about it, kid. The last explorer I helped cursed like a sailor. Although I'm not sure if that saying still holds true. And you got really close, nicely done."

  "Close would mean I'm dead. I need to get it right," Hera let out a long sigh, "Oh, and the thing about the sailors is still a saying. Not sure if it's true, but people still say that."

  "Good, I'm not that old then," Peaches smiled.

  "How old are you, by the way?"

  Peaches stared at Hera, "It's rude to ask a Guide about their age."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "Oh, sorry. I didn't know," Hera looked down.

  Peaches started laughing, "I'm just messing with you, kid. I honestly have no idea. We don't keep track."

  "So, you don't celebrate birthdays?"

  "Kid, you only have 24 hours here. Actually, it's closing into 23 now. Are you sure you want to discuss that?" Peaches asked.

  "Well, I have no idea when I'll see you again. So yeah, I kind of do."

  Peaches chuckled, "Fair enough. I'll be quick. We don't celebrate birthdays, but we have a small party whenever someone calls us. In my case, it's when I give someone the Guide skill."

  "Oh, so it really is up to you?"

  "100% kid. I'm the judge and jury. But honestly, my rule is just don't be a greedy prick. You would be surprised how many people fail on that."

  Hera nodded, "Honestly, I think I get it. Most people suck."

  "I'm surprised to hear you say that. You seemed more open during your explorer quest."

  "I like you, and the simulations were simulations. Why would I be mean to them?" Hera explained.

  "So, you would act like that with everyone that is not people?"

  "Probably. Until they show that they suck just as much regular people."

  Peaches laughed, "Fair point. More people should live by those rules. Now stop wasting time and get out of here."

  Hera laughed and moved towards the door. She still had questions about the Guides. For instance, were there really so few explorers who knew them that being called warranted a party? Still, she focused on the test and headed out.

  Once more, after the Silverback Gorilla. This time the monster wasn't at the same stop. Hera spent another ten minutes walking around looking for tracks or marks until she found the beast sitting in a clearing.

  Seeing the monster, Hera didn't wait as long. She sneaked up behind the gorilla and jumped onto its back, slashing its neck at the same time. The cut went deep, and a river of red covered its torso. The monster started to gasp for air while Hera held it in place.

  Seeing the monster frazzled, the Explorer went for a secondary strike on the other side of the neck. This only made the creature panic even more and struggle to breathe. It wasn't a one hit kill, but it was clear the beast wouldn't be able to fight back while losing this much blood. In just a few moments, the Silverback Gorilla went limp.

  Right in front of her, a door appeared. It wasn't connected to anything, and even if Hera looked behind it, she could only see the doorframe. Opening it, she found a reception almost precisely like the one before. The one difference was the color. The first entrance was painted in a soft blue. This had a light yellow tone.

  "Hey, kid. Congratulations on passing the first part," Peaches was sitting on the desk the same way Hera left him in the first reception.

  "Thanks, how many are there?" Hera walked to the door at the back, the one that leads to the bathroom.

  "I can't tell you that. But I'll let you know when you are done."

  "Well, I hope so. It would be really mean to let me keep going while I was already done," Hera walked in the rest area, drank some water, and used the bathroom before going back and checking the screens.

  She expected to just see the same pictures again, however, now things were different. Instead of a multitude of options, they were all the same place. A sprawling cave network with the same monsters in every image. Small creatures that were stuck to the walls and ceiling. The target seemed to be a large snake like being.

  However, she couldn't find anything about the monster's weakness. Only the shadow was available. And asking Peaches about it was of no help. The Guide simply stated 'This is part of the test.'

  Not really feeling confident in her information, Hera opened the door and headed inside the cave. Even with her hide active, her footsteps echoed through the tunnels. The only way to stop the noise was to crawl on all fours, but that would make her waste too much time.

  After a couple of moments, Hera kicked a pebble by accident. The noise reverberated through the cavern. She held her breath, hoping it wasn't enough to warn the monsters. A few seconds passed, and nothing seemed to be coming towards her. As she started to move once again, she noticed that the wind seemed to be picking up.

  It didn't take long for her to realize that the sound wasn't the wind, but the sound of dozens of tiny wings approaching. Hera tried to hide as best she could in the open tunnel, but soon she was swarmed by bats. Crouching down, she got into a defensive position, hiding her face between her legs as she learned when little.

  She waited to be attacked, but instead, the floor suddenly changed to white marble. Raising her head, she was once again in the blue reception, with Peaches sitting on the desk.

  “Hey, kid. Bad luck?” Peaches asked with a playful smile.

  Several hours later…

  "Fuck!" Hera yelled after arriving once again in the blue reception room

  "Hey, kid. Bad luck?" Peaches asked with a playful smile.

  "Can you please not say that every time I get here? It's freaking me out," Hera got up, cleaning the dirt out of her clothes.

  "What do you mean, kid? It's the first time you get here."

  "What?!" Hera stared at the guide with wide eyes.

  Peaches started laughing, "Sorry, but your face was priceless, kid."

  "Don't joke like that! Those time loop things freak me out," the Explorer groaned.

  "I'll keep that in mind," the Guide was still laughing.

  Hera huffed and walked into the resting area. It had been 8 hours since she started the test. So far, she had managed to pass through four different rooms. The first was the area with the monkeys. It wasn't as difficult as she expected. The annoying part was killing the silverback in a single strike, but she still ended up being hit by the baboons more than a couple of times during her attempts.

  The second area was a cave filled with bats and a giant red centipede as a target. The problem was the noise. Any small disturbance would make them go insane, and the centipede was very noisy. Not only that, but the only way to one-shot it was by hitting it between the eyes. That was a huge problem. Hera's best trick was to use her light spell as a flashbang before going in for the kill.

  The third room was a snowy mountain with a heavy wind blowing. Several wolves were running around that would rush to her the moment they got her scent. She needed not only to anticipate the changes in the wind but be careful not to sweat too much.

  The target this time was a White Arctic Fox. Killing it was easy, but getting close enough was the problem. The best way to do it was by either throwing her chakram or using the poison spray spell. However, using that second option required her to stay around and dodge the fox for about twenty minutes. If the situation weren't as time-sensitive, it would be fine.

  The fourth room was a swamp, and several flies patrolled the area. Hera needed to be very careful to be hidden from them. If they looked at her in the open, she would be spotted. The first few times Hera got in there, she was immediately attacked by the creatures.

  It was a scary situation as the flies were the size of oranges. The target this time was a snake. It was incredibly big, but nothing that didn't exist outside the MAZE. It was still a big creature, and it was very hard to find the green snake in the middle of the swamp.

  Hera managed to find it twice. The first time she was caught by the beast, and they both fell into the water. The second time she was about to hit it, but one of the flies hit her arm before she was able to strike the target.

  The explorer was taking a moment to eat some fruit, drink water, use the bathroom, and rest for about half an hour.

  "Soo, what have you learned?" Peaches asked while Hera was lying in bed.

  "Bugs suck," she replied.

  "And why is that?"

  "Because they can sneak up on me while I'm about to hit the bloody snake."

  "Try again, Kid."

  Hera let out a long sigh, "Bugs, or at least the bugs in here, have very keen sight. They can notice even small movements."

  "And?"

  "And..." Hera picked the tablet and read through the information, "And they are not very good at noticing differences in colors and such."

  "So? What is the best way to deal with them?"

  "Just hide? No, that doesn't seem to work," Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Maybe I should try to camouflage myself?"

  "Like the snake?" Peaches asked.

  "Yeah, I should learn from it, try to make its strength as my own."

  Peaches nodded with a satisfied smile. He wouldn't give her the answers to the questions. But nothing was stopping the guide from giving her a little nudge in the right direction.

  "Was that the only thing you could use?" Peaches asked.

  "What do you mean?" Hera asked without getting up.

  "Was the snake the only one who could teach you something?"

  Hera considered what Peaches had just said. The snake was the only one that helped her in some way, right? Thinking for a moment, she tried to figure out what the other targets could show her. After some time, she sat up on the bed, staring at the guide.

  "Holy crap, the system is really smart," Hera gasped.

  Peaches nodded its head, "It can be, sometimes."

  "Ok, but help me out here. The centipede was about distributing my weight to minimize noise, or at least that's what I think. The entire thing is about noise, and the centipede doesn't make that much noise when moving since the weight is so well distributed. And the fox was about using nature to my benefit. If I stay against the wind, it's easier to sneak up on it. But what the hell is the gorilla about?"

  Peaches smiled. This was the right question, and she managed to pass the first test with some consistency. It wouldn't do any harm to answer that one, "Maybe about knowing when to strike."

  "Oh, yeah, that makes sense. When I can't incapacitate it on the first attack, I end up back here."

  Hera was still thinking about everything while Peaches just watched the gears turning inside her head. After finishing her rest, the explorer got up, ready to try again.

  It took her five attempts to reach the fourth reception, which had lavender walls. Hera read once more the information about her target, as this part of the test showed a detailed description of the monsters but had nothing about the location. It was the same case for the fox area.

  The snake wasn't venomous, but its body strength was enough to crush bones. It was also a very patient hunter and could stay in one position for hours. They were also very sensitive to heat, which could be used to lure them. Hera also wanted to be sure she could finish it in one single strike.

  She waited for a moment, thinking about what she could do to improve her chances. Hera looked at Peaches, "Tell me, does this place have some whetstones? I forgot to bring mine."

  "Check the bottom drawer on the rest area. I think there is one there."

  Hera went to the room and found what she needed. Taking a few minutes to sharpen both her handaxe and her chakram, she got a 1% buff to their durability. The blades also felt much sharper, even taking care of the weapons daily, they still showed some signals of wear and tear.

  "Wish me luck," Hera said to Peaches while moving towards the door.

  "Go get them, kid."

  Hera left the reception and moved through the swamp. As she walked, she made sure to spread some mud and water on her clothes. The smell was far from pleasant, but it allowed Hera to blend better with her surroundings. She took ten minutes to feel comfortable with the amount of camouflage she put on herself. It was the weirdest makeup she had ever tried.

  After some time, Hera returned to her search for the snake. Even with the dirt and mud on top of her, she still was being careful. Moving slowly, she spent twenty minutes sneaking around before finally finding the monster's trail. The mud had some very specific markings. The kind that would only appear if something was slithering around.

  She followed the tracks for ten minutes, moving through a large part of the swamp. Only after that, she noticed some similarities in the area. The tracks were making a loop, Hera had just spent the last ten minutes walking in circles.

  The Explorer frowned. Was the snake that smart? Could it be toying with her?

  Hera looked around, trying to see if any flies or the snake were around. Some of the mosquitoes were a bit farther away to her left, but no sign of the snake. The explorer ducked down and tried to focus on her hearing. There had to be some signal of what was going on.

  After a few moments hearing the buzzing and the noises of the swamp, Hera listened to a different noise coming from a tree on her left. She turned around and saw the snake dangling from a branch, staring at her. Hera stared back. For a moment, she could swear the creature was smiling.

  She picked her handaxe and started walking towards the tree, still staring at the snake. If the creature were smart enough to lay this trap, Hera wouldn't be able to hide from it. Her best option was a frontal assault. Moving closer, she felt like she was in the middle of a game of chicken against the snake.

  Hera stopped moving for a moment while a couple of flies passed nearby, not taking her eyes out of her target. As the Explorer got closer, the snake retracted to the branch, getting ready to lunge at the incoming human.

  Hera knew that she would only get a single chance to kill it. If she failed, the snake or the bugs would hit her, and she would be back in the first reception.

  Inch by inch, Hera got closer to the snake. She needed to wait for the beast to move first. Step by step, the explorer approached until the snake lunged at her with its mouth open.

  Hera took a step to the side, but her feet were caught on a tree root. Unable to dodge, she held her handaxe and attempted to block the attack. The snake went straight into the blade of the axe, ripping the beast in two. Hera held her breath, already waiting to appear on the blue reception once more. Yet she didn't change locations. Looking down, she could see the snake's fangs hitting the leather armor on her chest. The impact of the handaxe was barely enough to take away the creature's momentum and save her from the attack.

  "This was way too close," Hera mumbled while walking to the door that just appeared.

  "Hey, kid. Nice job, but you need a shower," Peaches said as Hera walked into the room with light pink walls.

  "Ha ha. Very funny," Hera rolled her eyes.

  "Not a joke, kid. You reek. My nose is burning just by being near you."

  "Since when do you have a nose?"

  “Since always. Not my fault you can't appreciate its beauty.”

  Hera stared at Peaches. Aside from the eyes and mouth, there was nothing else on his face. Hera waved him off and grabbed some water in the rest area before looking at the screens for the next part of the test.

  According to Alex, after dealing with rooms dedicated to specific senses, the Assassin had to deal with a room with something different. Spiders and their webs. And Hera very much felt this should be the case here.

  In the video, the shadow figure opened the door and dove into a large body of water. It spent some time swimming in the waters, hiding from large fish creatures until it found its target in the middle of a reef. After that, she focused on the screens. All the information this time was about aquatic creatures, from whales and dolphins to jellyfish and shrimp. So far, all the tests had been against different creatures than the ones Alex had to deal with. However, this was the first time that the variation was so big.

  "Sooo... Am I supposed to get a scuba suit somewhere?" Hera turned to the Guide.

  Peaches chuckled, "Well, if you have, you can use it. But you can breathe in that water."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, kid. Perks of the MAZE. Some rooms have breathable water."

  "This is going to be weird," Hera said.

  "Weirder than talking to a green apple?"

  "Maybe not, but what about my tablet? Can I leave it here?"

  "Yeah, anything you leave here will show up in the next reception, or the previous one. The next one you show up in."

  "Ok, I'm leaving my tablet here then. The guild says this is waterproof, but I'm not too keen on putting it to the test in the ocean."

  Peaches nodded, "Fair point. And are you going like that?"

  Hera looked down. She was still covered in mud and dirt, and some snake blood now.

  "Yeah, no. There are sharks on the screen. I'm gonna wash this out since I'm already getting wet anyway," Hera walked to the rest area and took a shower with her clothes on to clean everything up. She made sure to clean every piece of clothing and leave no blood, dirt, or soap on her body. That could be used to track her.

  Half an hour later, she was standing in front of the door. She glanced at the timer that was on one of the screens. She was closing in the 10 hour mark, and she was already feeling a bit sleepy.

  "Let's hope this is the last one," she mumbled before diving into the ocean waters.

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  Chapter 104 - Underwater

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