MAZE - The Endless Quest 57 Hard Choices

He was near some of the fruits that Hera had brought back from the orchard. It was easy to miss him, even though he was much bigger than the other apples, he blended well in the arrangement.

"Yeah, I know, but what are you doing here?" Hera asked.

"Well, I came here to congratulate you on beating the slime. But looking at you right now, I'm not sure who won that fight."

"Very funny, I'm still learning how to fight, ok," she snarled.

"Ok, ok, calm down. I was just checking up on you."

Hera let out a lengthy sigh, "Yeah, Sorry. The pain is getting to me."

"The apex slime really did a number on you, but you managed to finish the quest."

Hera stared at the slime.

"How did you know that?" she asked.

"I'm the supervisor for the test, remember? I know when you complete a quest. Because of that, I know that even if you finish the test now, it won't be at 60% anymore," he explained.

Hera picked the tablet and looked at the quest. He was right. The quest was now at 70%. The objective completed was 'fixed the slime's odd behavior.'

"Well, I'm above the minimum now. But I'm not sure I can keep going," she said.

"Why is that?" Peaches asked.

"I think I have a couple of broken ribs. It hurts to breathe and to move my right arm. I don't want to stop like this, but it might be too reckless to continue,"

As she talked, Hera lowered her head. She worked so hard to get here. She wanted to explore more, find the d.a.m.n flowers for Florence, and explore the other side of the creek. There was so much to do here, and yet because she failed to use the skills she has at the right time, she had to stop.

Hera felt her eyes watering while she clenched her fist.

"Kid, you're too hard on yourself. Most recruits that do this test choose to end it as soon as they can. Most complain about the lack of bathrooms around the forest, or that is too hard to find everything. You did pretty well so far. It took you only three days to get 70% of the test. Your performance is already way above average," Peaches said.

"But I could've done better. I can be better," Hera said in a weak voice.

"Kid, this is a test to see how you deal with the role. Knowing when you are out of your league is part of it. Explorers are the first ones to enter a new room, the ones that travel to uncharted territories. Being able to tell when you reached your limit is probably the skill that will keep you alive,"

"So you are telling me that I should finish the test now?" she asked.

"I'm not telling you anything. I'm explaining how the role works. You can make whatever conclusion you want from it," Peaches said, winking at the recruit.

That made Hera laugh, but the movement only increased the pain.

"Ouch," she said as she stopped laughing, "Thanks, Peaches. I guess you are right. Even if I don't get the full reward, I'm still going to be an explorer."

"Exactly, and it's not like you can't get the..." Peaches stopped speaking abruptly, "Nevermind."

" It's not like you can't what?" Hera asked.

"No, not saying, forget about that."

"Aww, c'mon you beautiful slime, you can tell me."

"Zip it. You're gonna make me lose my job," he grunted.

"Fine, but you are breaking my heart,"

"That wasn't me. It was the apex slime," Peaches laughed.

Hera smiled and picked her tablet, "Do you have any idea how long it will take Betty to finish my handaxe?"

"Oh, you got some materials? It usually takes a day or two, depending on what she's doing."

"Two days..." Hera stared at her chest, "I'm not sure if this would be an emergency or not, what do you think?"

"Well, if you were a slime, I could tell you. But I don't know how you humans work. I can say that your right side seems a bit bigger than the left."

"I don't think I should risk it. I got cut a few times, I tried to clean them, but I'm worried it might get infected."

"That's a good plan, kid. Getting a high grade here won't matter if you end up dying just after finis.h.i.+ng the test."

"Wow, way to be grim," Hera said as she picked the tablet, "Thank you for everything, Peaches. I hope I can see you again someday."

"Anytime, it's been a pleasure, Hera."

Hera smiled and pressed the b.u.t.ton to end the test, closing her eyes afterward. She didn't want to be blinded by that light again. A few moments pa.s.sed, and Hera felt no change. There was no tingling sensation, no change in the lighting, nothing. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was Peaches with a smug smile on his face.

"Why is this not working?" she asked.

"Who said it's not? Look behind you."

Hera turned her head and saw that the wall behind her had vanished. She could see the village and the forest she traveled through during the last few days. The sky suddenly turned white, and the trees started to collapse as if they were made of sand. In less than one minute, Hera found herself in a familiar white room. The only things that were still here were the table that Peaches was using, the bed she was sitting on, and the door of the house.

"Peaches, what is going on?" she asked.

"As I said, I'm the supervisor of the test. And I'm also the one who tally ups your score," he explained.

"They why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, I couldn't, part of the rules. Also, I would miss that look on your face."

Hera scoffed while peaches closed his eyes. They spent a few moments like that before Hera finally asking.

"So, what now?"

"Just give me a minute, I'm finis.h.i.+ng up something."

Hera stopped talking and waited, looking around she couldn't tell if this room was as big as the area she was in or if it was a different place altogether. A knock on the door interrupted Hera's thoughts. Peaches made a motion with his head, and the door opened. Betty walked in and placed a handaxe beside Hera. Without saying anything, she turned around and left through the door.

"Sorry about that. If you end the test before an item is ready, we speed up the time inside the blacksmith's house so you can have it. It wouldn't be very fair to take away something you worked so hard for."

Hera nodded without taking away her eyes from the weapon. It had a long dark grey handle that was about the size of her forearms and bent backward a bit. The blade had a dark purple tint. It was so well polished that she could see her reflection on it, and when the light hit it in the right angle, she could see a rainbow on the blade. The head of the axe looked like a Francisca, but as it reached the edge, it became longer resembling more a broad axe. She reached out to the weapon but stopped, activating her [Inspect]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Nameless handaxeRarity: Uncommon

A handaxe created by Betty the Blacksmith using a purple liquid metal that came from an apex slime. The proprieties of the slime were imbued into the weapon, changing the weapon's weight to be little more than 500 grams. The material used also gives the weapon increased durability.

Attribute scaling:Strength x 1.1

Additional effect:When in contact with water, the handaxe can function as a floating device.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she read the description, Hera remembered the cla.s.s about equipment. Most weapons that were found inside the maze could increase one attack's strength when used with a specific attribute. In this case, if her strength was at 10, strikes with the weapon would consider her stat to be 11. The additional effect was an odd one, though. But it was her first equipment, and she was lucky enough to get something that scaled with her stats.

She reached out for the axe, and the moment her hand touched it, a notification appeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Do you wish to name the nameless handaxe?[Yes] [No]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why is it asking me to name it?" she mumbled.

"Because Betty is technically a machine. So the naming right would be to the one who looked for the materials." Peaches explained.

"Oh... ok."

Hera thought for a moment. When she was little, she had a stuffed bunny that she pretended to be her companion. She called it Iris. it seemed silly, but her first weapon might as well have the same name. She pressed yes and typed the name and pressed ok. The description immediately changed the name of the handaxe.

Hera picked the handaxe. Not only was it light, but it was also very comfortable to hold. She gave it a couple of swings. It felt right. The weapon was different than the ones she used before. It was almost like the axe was helping with the movement.

"Kid, I know you just got a new toy, but can we wrap this up? After you recover, I'm sure you will have plenty of opportunities to test it out," Peaches said.

"Oh, sorry. Please, what do I need to do?"

"Nothing, Let's just see here."

A notification appeared behind peaches, showing Hera's quest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Role test: ExplorerThe green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test.This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities.Current discovery progress 75%

[X] Discovered Woodland[X] Found Peaches[X] Found the materials for Betty, the blacksmith[X] Discovered a way to protect the village from attacks[X] Gazed upon the ever-blooming tree[X] Retrieved farmer Frank's rake[X] Fixed the slime's odd behavior.[ ]?????????????[ ]?????????????

[/] Received a weapon from betty made from a rare material~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You did quite well, only missed two things. But you just got the rare material for the weapon, not the unique one, so that's only a half complete." Peaches explained.

"Was I close to getting the unique material?" Hera asked.

"Not really, there were a couple of times that you were kind of going in the right direction, but you were still really far from it."

Hera looked down. She wasn't able to find anything about that material. And she barely ever explored the area across the creek. There was still so much to explore.

"Hey, now, don't be sad. We talked about this," Peaches said, "Your result is... that you pa.s.sed with a good grade if we say it in a letter, the system gave you a C, but I would give you a B-, C+ if I'm being stingy."

Hera looked up. She was used to getting Cs. This whole training really felt like high school, aside from the monsters, magic, and almost being eaten alive.

"Congratulations! Now for your first reward. I think you are going to enjoy that. Just for the record, the system makes those. I have no say in the matter, but I can explain to you how it works."

As Peaches spoke a small platform raised beside Hera with what looked like a black lighter on top of it. She picked the object and opened its lid. Inside there was a thread positioned in a way that reminded her of dental floss.

"Is this your way of saying that my breath stinks?" she asked.

"To be fair, your whole body stinks right now."

Hera stared daggers at Peaches and then activated her [Inspect] on the object.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Yarnball - Explorer's relic

An extremely resilient string that takes its strength from its owner. It can return any objects attached to it to the user, be used as a dowsing rod, or as a threat alarm.

Pa.s.sive effects:Returning stringIf an object is tied to the string when throw, the object will return to the case after reaching the maximum distance of the string. Current maximum distance: 10 Meters

Danger senseWhen the object is near a monster, it pulses according to the distance of the creature. It can only detect monsters that are not hidden. The range of this effect depends on its owner's strength.Current range: 5 meters.

Active effect: Dowsing rodBy letting the string loose and pointing it down, you can ask about a location, item, or creature. The string will point towards the direction where the query is located. The accuracy of this effect depends on its owner's strength. Cooldown: 168 hours~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hera read the description a few times. It seemed underwhelming, especially compared to the radar that Omar had. Seeing her frown, Peaches intervened.

"Don't feel bad. Most explorers get something weird that seems weak at first. But the system created that item just for you, thinking about your strengths and shortcomings. If you have any questions about how that works, feel free to ask. The system gave me a rundown."

Asking a few questions, Hera got the gist of how that the item worked. She had to admit that the returning string seemed really useful. That way, she could have some range in her attacks.

"Ok, now for the second reward, this one has a few rules," Peaches said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The test supervisor approves your result.Explorer role skill [Local Guide] acquired.

Local Guide

It allows you to summon the guide of the room you are in. The guide will stay for five minutes and answer any questions you have about the room. You can summon the guide only once per room. Information about this skill can only be discussed with explorers who have the skill.Information about a specific guide can only be discussed with explorers who have met said guide.If these rules are broken three times, the skill will be removed.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~