MAZE - The Endless Quest

Hera’s group walked for a couple of hours, using the invisibility of their equipment a couple of times. Everything was going fine, even if they had a couple of close calls when their team had to stay very quiet as a group of humans walked by. Luckily they were in a forest and the team was able to quickly climb on top of the trees to avoid the patrol.

Aside from that, there were no close calls or any issues. Once they were passing by a wide open area with no one in sight, Helena took advantage of the mobile soundproofing spell that was covering the group to talk with Hera.

“Hey, are you ok?” the mage asked.

Hera gave her friend a puzzled look, “I’m fine. Why?”

“I was just worried about what we are about to do. I remember how bad killing the elf made you feel.”

“Oh. Yeah, I’m not happy about this situation. But it’s not going to be the first time I kill people again,” Hera looked around and whispered in an even more hushed tone, “They are all part of the lab, but still.”

“So you won’t be upset because you had to kill people now?” Helena pressed.

“I never said that. I don’t like that we have to do this, but it’s not like we have another choice. Then again, the fact that the humans here are using children as bargaining chips does help. If this was just a regular prisoner’s camp, I might struggle against everything much more,” Hera glanced at the mage, “How about you? I know I struggled with killing people, but I don’t remember you saying you had to do something like that before.”

Helena nodded, “That’s true. I never killed someone, not directly at least. But I also never had that much of a problem with the idea. Some people are just bad, and if someone is coming at me, trying to kill me. Then it’s just a matter of defending myself. Besides, even if I never killed someone, I ran my fair share of dungeons with humanoid enemies.”

“If you are having a hard time dealing with that, let me know. I might be able to contact Sammy,” Hera said with a somber voice.

"How?" the make asked.

Hera hesitated for a moment. She couldn’t just say that it was an extension of her guide skill. But then again, she didn’t want to lie to Helena, “You know how I can change the environment in my private room? I tried changing that to Sammy’s office one day, and there he was. We could talk as if it was a video call. To be fair, seeing him when I wanted only happened that one time. After that, any time I tried, I could see that office where we took care of the curse, but Sammy only showed up when I called him.”

“Damn, I wonder if you can do that with more people.”

“I tried calling other people. My dad, for instance, but that didn’t work. Even Shane. A while back, we both went to our private rooms and tried calling each other, but nothing.”

“Still, just being able to see Sammy is nice,” Helena nodded with a smile, “I would like to talk with him when I have a chance. Not even for a session just to see how he’s doing.”

“Pipe down, we are getting closer,” another member of the team whispered to the two. Soundproofing spells were, in a way, like doors that stopped sounds from going beyond a certain point. However, just like doors, some people were experts in breaking and entering. Which meant that it was possible one of the humans had a spell, or a skill to peek inside the area of silence that was created by the team’s controller.

In the distance, Hera could already see the top of the valley. Like Kaela explained, it was a massive crater about 400 meters wide. Inside that formation were a pair of tall mountains reaching around 20 meters above ground level. There was no movement on the top of that area, only on the sides, where the path to the bottom of the valley started.

A voice came through the earbud in Hera’s ear. It was Tania, the triton in charge of this team, “Charmaine, cover everyone with a personal silent spell. Make it small just to affect each of them. Everyone spread out in a line. Make sure that there is nothing between you and the mountain. We don’t want anyone making turns. On my signal, activate the invisibility and run to the mountain. But don’t go too fast. We need to get there quickly but also quietly. Harpies, keep a low flight but high enough not to cause dust clouds on the ground.”

Everyone spread out in a line a few meters before the forest came to an end. A few people had to be farther away so as not to be stopped by a large rock or something that was in the path. Charmaine, an elf, quickly passed by everyone, giving the quick taps on their shoulder while casting the spell. His mana wouldn’t be able to hold on for a long time with this many effects at once, but for the 10 to 15 minutes’ run, it would be enough.

“Everyone is seeing that small alcove? Just behind the largest rock that is on the path. First reach the mountain, then walk along it to that location. We will all go inside and wait for Kaela’s signal. Beryl, I’m counting on your illusion to make it seem like the alcove is just another part of the mountain. You can hold that for as long as we need, correct.”

Hera glanced to the left, a few meters away, after Flint, Skyler, and one more person, an armadillo beastman raised his arm in a thumbs up. The Ophidianite realized that the place was very dark. She had an easier time looking around since now, her eyes were made for the dark, but she couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the group was having problems seeing everything.

“Invisibility,” Tania waited a few moments, “Now. To the mountain!”

Hera triggered the invisibility while having Twiggy on her head, with Viper and Crimson tightly wrapped around her waist in a pair of scabbards that she made. Daskka, unfortunately, wouldn’t be able to be hidden by the spell of the earrings the Empress got. But with this trio, she had more than enough eyes to watch everything around her.

Dashing through this open field at a high speed, she realized how much better it was to run now than it was before her transformation. She was never slow. After all, there were enough skills to help her move faster. But thanks to her tail, it was easier to maintain high speeds while keeping the noise to a minimum. Not only would her tail help her balance her movement better, but it could also push her from side to side for quick changes in the direction if she noticed a hole, some dried leaves, or an area that could be a problem on the way.

‘Hera, to the left. Trouble!’ Twiggy warned.

Like the tiara said, there was someone coming from the right. It was a human, but they seemed to be alone. Maybe it was just a random scout, or maybe it was something else. The Empress quickly opened her [Explorer’s Map] and saw all the dots of the 30 team members. This was a party function that allowed her to see the location of the people she registered. The actual range of that was pretty small, only 300 meters, and any walls between her and the dots would cut the connection. But right now, she could see that human approaching and four people between her and the possible patrol. However, no one was moving to intercept.

She wasn’t sure what was the plan for this kind of situation. Maybe they had to just ignore and continue, or maybe this human could spell doom for all their plans. Not wanting to give a chance for things to go wrong, she broke off from the formation, making sure to not get close to the other members of the team and cause them to trip and fall, and approached the human. At the same time, she sent out Daskka in her black mist form towards Tania. Even if she wasn’t completely invisible, the herald was very good at hiding, especially at night. The only reason Hera didn’t keep her outside was for the slim chance of someone showing a light in that area. The invisibility spell would protect them from being discovered, but a black mist moving around would be revealed.

A few moments passed, with Hera reaching the mountain. The human was still getting closer, but they didn’t seem to have noticed anything wrong. That person got closer and closer as the members of the team slowly reached the alcove pointed by their leader. Daskka eventually found Tania and pointed towards the human, trying to warn her of the situation.

“Shit. We have a human coming from the right. It should be a patrol. If anyone can confirm they are alone, you are free to take them out. If not, wait. Continue with the plan and we hide in the alcove,” Tania’s voice came through the earbud once more.

Hera looked around, but neither she, Twiggy, nor the twins could see any other human nearby. To make matters worse, Helena and a couple of the other mages participating in the operation were trailing behind the group. From what the Empress could tell, there was a good chance the human would eventually get too close to them.

Not wanting to let that happen, Hera triggered the [Hidden Frontal Screen] skill of the Spymasters and moved towards the human. It was a woman with dark skin carrying a long spear on her back, and with her long hair in braids that went to her shoulders. The Empress steeled herself and walked upright towards that woman. Viper and Crimson were already in her hands. Once close enough, with twin stabs, Hera pierced both eyes of the woman and let her daggers sink deep into her head. Triggering a soundproof spell around them at the same time.

The human didn’t even have a chance to respond, and just fell limp into the Ophidianite’s arms. Not wanting to waste time, Hera grabbed the body, using her tail to keep her torso upright while leaving the daggers embedded into her eyes, and rushed towards the alcove. If she were to take them out now, blood would go everywhere, and the whole idea was not to leave any tracks. Less than a minute later, Hera arrived at where the rest of the team was located. Everyone was still silent when they saw the body being carried by an invisible person.

Quickly checking her [Explorer’s Map] again, the Empress confirmed that everyone was there and used a soundproof barrier before speaking, “We are all here, captain.”

“Thank you, Beryl. Make a one-way illusion in this alcove.”

The armadillo beastmen nodded and did as he was asked.

Tania continued, “Hera, put that body here in the back. I’ll freeze her so the blood doesn’t attract anyone.”

Once the human was in the right place, Hera dismissed Viper and Crimson without removing them from the woman’s head. That way, the blood wouldn’t be going anywhere. Tania quickly cast a spell that turned the body into a large block of ice and took a couple of steps forward.

Hera just kept looking at the human body. The human she had just killed.

“Sweetie? Are you ok?” Helena gently placed one hand on the Ophidianite’s shoulder.

“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s just… I don’t like how easy it was to do this. And I’m not talking about the level difference.”

One of the other team members, a burly elf called Lialtan, carrying a dangerous looking greatsword, nodded with a solemn smile, “That’s good. Even if killing someone is easy, you should never forget that it is something bad. We have to create some calluses on our soul to do this kind of job. The moment you stop feeling them is when you should worry.”

Hera nodded back and after a moment, Vash asked, “So what now? We just wait?”

Tania nodded, “Correct. We wait for Kaela’s signal. Then we go up the mountain and kill everyone in sight.”