บท 561: ...The abyss stares back
The first question Hera asked was if the doorway was located in an area inside the grid of the map they made. With a positive answer, people split off to rest for the rest of the night. Some tried to complete this forging challenge, while others went to the dormitory to rest up or to prepare something for the next day. Hera decided to finish her knife, or at least try to. Part of it was over, and now she only had to finish the handle and the gemstone details. She knew that Daskka had some skills for her to pick from, but according to the herald, none of the skills could help them travel underwater or find the doorway. Because of that, Hera thought it was better to focus on what she had at hand than to start to pick a new skill for her legacy. When they arrived in the next room, they would probably stay a day in their private rooms, and Hera could take a look at her options with fewer things in her mind.
As the Empress worked in sanding and preparing the handle, Alex came over, "Hey… I want to ask your opinion about something."
"Hey. Sure, can I keep working, or is this a stop-and-listen talk?" Hera asked.
"You can keep working," hearing Alex's reply, Hera nodded and continued sanding the handle to match the shape of the skinning knife, "So… You will understand what I'm saying but just humor me and pretend you don't. If you had a way to find where the doorways are and how to reach them, even if that could eventually come back to bite you in the ass. Would you do it? To save yourself and your friends?"
Hera looked up from her workbench and opened her mouth but stopped. She understood that Alex should be saying something related to the curse. After all, this was the only thing that the assassin had that could do something like that. Hera had seen Alex find some unique paths or a monster weakness out of the blue, and a part of her suspected that it was because of the curse, but this felt much bigger.
"It depends. If my friends don't have a way to figure this out, and if it looks as if we are in trouble, yeah. I would do whatever it takes. I mean, I kind of did that with Blue once already. We could have ended up lost inside the cave in the Kobold Battlefield and die to the rising lava. So, yeah. If I had no other options, I would 100% risk that. But knowing what you are saying, give us some time before doing anything rash," Hera looked deep into Alex's eyes when saying that.
"I'll try, but… I might be able to take us to the 12th layer. Which would be much safer. I mean, most of us would be fine, I think. Helena and Adriel especially. They have the most experience in the MAZE, but Bonnie… I'm worried about her. She is not a fighter, and if we end up in a very dangerous place, I don't know if she will make it. Or if we could protect her," Alex glanced at a forge on the other side of the room, where Bonnie and Adriel were talking about his drones. The researcher wanted to determine how to improve their chances by using that equipment.
Hera nodded, "I know. But like I said. I would think the same but leave it as a last resort. Maybe my snakes can find something out."
Alex nodded and walked towards the dormitory, but that conversation made Hera worry. If she decided to use the curse, maybe the rest of the party would also be affected by it. After all, that thing could spread through knowledge. By using that to find the doorway, Alex could expose them all to the curse's capabilities.
The next two hours went by in a flash. Helena and Blue stopped by to see if Hera was ok, but she was focused on the work. To make the details in the handle, she decided to use jade dust and resin, that way, it would be both pretty and comfortable to hold. Not to mention that a thin coat of resin around the wooden handle would make it more durable and less prone to some problems. Thanks to one of the furnace settings, letting the resin cure took only half an hour, and by the time she was done, Hera asked the next question to Yarnball.
Following Bonnie's plan, she asked if the doorway was in a column past the fourth one on the map. She had to be clear to say past and not in the fourth column or beyond so as to make the split even on both sides. After getting an affirmative answer, she went to the dormitory to eat and get ready for bed. Bonnie also set up an alarm spell around Hera's bed so she would be woken up every two hours to ask another question to Yarnball. Soon, everyone turned in for the night and rested until the next day.
After everyone got ready to leave in the morning, Helena turned to Hera, "Are you sure you don't want to sleep some more, sweetie?"
Hera let out a huge yawn, "Yeah. I just need to move. If I go to bed now, I won't wake up anytime soon," the Empress woke up every two hours to ask questions to Yarnball and spent almost all of her mana doing so. However, now they at least knew that the doorway to the 15th layer was in the 6th columns of the map and in the lower half of the rows.
Before leaving the forge, Hera took one last look at the workbench she had used the previous night. She managed to complete the challenge, and now, the skinning knife was in her pocket as the reward for being successful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hera's Skinning Knife
A skinning knife made by the Empress of Blades with the help of her court. The dedication and care put into the creation of this item were felt by the materials, which, despite the crude workmanship, formed a unique bond with each other.
Skills:
Master Skinner:
Whoever wields this knife is likely to cut leather in ways that go beyond their skills.
Ever sharpened blade:
This knife will never become blunt when used for its true purpose. If used to perform a different task, the knife's edge will be recovered within 10 hours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a beautiful knife with a silver and bronze edge, and a mahogany handle with jade details that formed the petals of a rose around it. Hera was very proud of the end result, more because of the design she made than anything else.
"Hera? Everything ok?" Shane asked, snapping the explorer out of her daze.
"Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking about something. Let's go," Hera replied as Daskka assumed her giant snake form to take the lead. They left the forest and the island altogether and jumped on top of Adriel's drones while Nimbus would drag everyone to the Tacritan island.
It didn't take that long, and as they got closer, Hera started to feel the snakes she had sent out the previous day. That caught her off guard. She never actually tried to see how long those constructs would last, but she never expected them to be still around after she slept. To make things even more surprising, she was getting a few pings from them.
"Hey. My snakes are still out, and they are telling me they found something. I'll check it while we are going. Nimbus, try not to make any sharp turns so I won't fall," Hera told her party. Everyone nodded, and she started to check what the snakes were doing. The four ones inside the labyrinth showed her some unique landmarks. Statues, odd structures, and even a painting of the ocean view without the God of Water in the middle of the room, but that was it. Some of the other snakes were still running around, trying to see if they would find something, while the ones in the 'Door to the Abyss' were all waiting for her response. In reality, there were only four spots where the 12 snakes were waiting. Changing her senses to them, she understood why. They were all in front of places that looked like tunnel entrances but were blocked by rubble. It was hard to tell if it happened naturally or not. Having still 8 of them to change to, she asked the constructs to search for a way past the debris. There may be a hole or something that would allow them to pass. If they found something, the snakes were to continue through that passage. If not, they would continue going deeper into the Abyss to see what else was in there.
When they arrived on the Tacritan island once more, everyone started searching for the doorway across the sixth column of the map. Unfortunately, there was a portion of the area that was located inside the labyrinth. Seeing that, Hera sent one of the snakes, still moving around the island, to the challenge and told it to come back after running in there for a few minutes. That way, she would be able to tell if there was a physical barrier that would stop people from leaving after entering.
After almost an hour of walking around, Daskka called out, "Hera! I found something!"
"What?" the Empress asked, turning to look at the giant snake.
"The entrance is blocked by rubble," she said while pointing to what looked like a cave, even with small rocks covering the entrance, but instead of it being on a rock or a mountain. It was in the middle of a massive tree that seemed to be thriving.
"That's odd. Let's go take a look," Hera told everyone what she found through the communicators, and soon, Blue, Helena, and Mylo joined her. All the while, Daskka was trying to pass through the rocks by turning into mist, but every time she went inside, she would come back out as if she was running in circles.
Daskka jumped on top of the rubble and started digging. The rest of the group followed her. It didn't take long until she finally found a gap in the rocks, which allowed the snake and the snake constructs that Hera called over to pass through. She connected to Daskka to cast a light spell and then swapped her senses with one of the snakes that crossed the rubble. Unfortunately, there was nothing inside. Well, close to nothing. Some stones and what looked to be remnants of a very old campfire were present. Beyond, there was a solid stone wall, the same wall that was circling most of the island. Revealing that this was part of the challenge, in a way.
With a sigh, Hera called everyone back and continued their search. Everyone was getting frustrated. This doorway was very well hidden, and Adriel was even considering going to the Abyss. There could be a tunnel that led to an underground cave. Otherwise, this wouldn't make any sense. Hera asked the next question, narrowing it down to just two squares on the map. The sky was already filled with dark heavy clouds, and in a few minutes, the rain started. For now, they knew that monsters wouldn't show up. According to Ruma, it took a storm to make them appear. However, this was much earlier than anyone predicted. Even the guide said that the rain should only start after sunset, and it was still close to noon. The entire party doubled their efforts. If the doorway was there, they had to find it soon.
When it came time to ask the last question, Hera didn't waste time and confirmed that the doorway was located in the area inside the 6th column and 7th row of the map. That was the same place where she found the camp inside the tree, part of the labyrinth, and part of the beach. In frustration, Mylo even started digging around the sand to see if he could find anything. When the Empress got a ping from one of her snakes, she quickly swapped her senses and noticed how the snake was in front of a sandpit, and someone had written something on it.
'Hera, this is Ruma. The storm is coming fast. You don't have much time. Go back to the challenge on the first island. We'll figure something out. This is the biggest storm I've seen in 750 years!'
Hera snapped back to herself just as she saw Alex standing in front of her.
"Hera… I'm going to do that."
"Are you sure?" Hera agreed with that idea, but she still was worried about her friend.
"No, but we don't have that many options right now," Alex hesitated, "If I… If I turn into something, kill me and forget about me. Please."
"You are not turning into anything," Hera replied.
Alex walked a bit to the left and stared into the distance for a few moments. She then rubbed her eyes and rushed towards Blue. They talked for a few moments and ran toward the edge of the beach.
"Guys! Come here, quick!" Alex yelled.
Everyone rushed to their side, and Shane asked, "Did you find something?"
"Sorry about this," Blue said, creating a set of ring clouds around everyone. Each cloud was like some rope tying them with their hands to the side, "Hera, please. Dismiss your court. Shane, don't do anything, please."
Hera glanced at Alex while dismissing her court and the snakes, "That was fast, or did you know what to do already?"
"I kind of knew. After I talked with you, I checked, and when I got what I needed, I told Blue about my idea. I just left the details of what she had to do until now," Alex replied.
"Ok, what are you doing?" Helena asked.
"We are getting to the 12th layer. As soon as Blue is done with that spell," Alex glanced to the side.
"Give me a couple of minutes. This is hard," Blue kept staring down while a cloud formed in her hands. It was almost as if she was trying to compress it.
"How did you find this?" Bonnie asked.
"Yeah. Please, tell me how, or I'm breaking this cloud. I don't like what you are doing right now," Shane squinted.
"I… I am under the influence of something really bad, but it's something that wants to thrive, so it needs me alive and well. If I lean into that influence, I can learn some things, and I found a way to go to the doorway like that."
"Why didn't you ask about the one we were looking for?" Mylo frowned.
"I figured that if I was going to risk doing this, I might as well go big or go home," Alex shrugged.
"It sounds like you made a deal with the devil," Adriel had a sorrowful expression.
"You are not completely wrong. It does feel like that. But it wasn't intentional."
"How can you…." Bonnie started speaking but was interrupted.
"Done. I hope this works!" Blue tossed that small cloud into the sky, and everyone watched as it went higher and higher, "This should clear the storm. Or that's the idea."
Just as she said that the cloud expanded and merged with the one already in the sky. For a moment, the wind and the rain stopped.
"Hey! It worked!" Alex cheered, but her words fell on deaf ears as a thunderstorm drowned out her voice, and the wind picked up again, now moving much faster than before. Everyone tried to hold on, but they were tossed towards the northeast. At first, they just tumbled forward, but soon they were actually being carried by the wind until they all fell inside the Door to the Abyss.
"Blue, drop this cloud!" Helena yelled. Now that they were in the water, they would need their hands to move around.
From the skies, a part of the clouds started to come down, as if it was going to become a hurricane directly on top of them. At the same time, the water inside the Abyss started to move, and the current became stronger and stronger, forming a whirlpool. Blue tried to drop her spells, but the storm was more powerful than her and was now in control of all the clouds she had created. The group spun around more and more as debris from the surrounding area came loose, and after a terrifying five minutes, they were all dragged underwater to the deepest part of the Abyss.
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