บท 975: The Ashen Guide
Hera went into a spiral for a few minutes, worrying about the ramifications of her presence in this operation. She got so distracted that she didn't even notice when Vyra crossed back through the doorway from the other side.
"Hera?" the harpy asked.
"What?" The Empress snapped to the side, surprised by the sudden appearance.
"You're up. Here's the tablet with the questions," Vyra explained.
"Right. Right," Hera replied but missed Vyra's attempt to hand her the tablet.
"Are you okay?" Vyra asked.
"I'll be right there," the Empress said, still in a daze.
"Hera? Are you still with us? Do I need to call a healer?" Vyra tapped Hera's shoulder.
"What?" Hera blinked, finally understanding what was going on. "Sorry, can you say that again?"
"Are you okay? What just happened?"
"I got too much into my head. The ramifications of what we're doing here finally hit me. That kind of freaked me out a little bit," Hera admitted. She also felt it was strange to be this open with someone she barely knew.
"Oh, tell me about it. I was already freaking out when they called us for this operation. Now that we know the stakes, it's a lot of pressure. I can only imagine how you're feeling about this. I mean, you're the aspirant hero. The Bladed Hydra. The One-Woman Army. The Scaled Dominatrix," Vyra nodded.
"The what now?" Hera asked with a blank stare.
"The One-Woman Army. Because of your legacy. Not everybody knows it's a legacy, but people know you can summon a bunch of weapons. Another version of the nickname is the Armory Woman, but I'm not sure if that works," Vyra paused. "I mean, it kind of does."
"Yeah, it does work. But I'm not talking about that one. What was the last nickname you said?" Hera pressed.
"Did you not know about that one?" Vyra asked.
"No. I did not. Can't say I'm fond of it," Hera's voice was cold and full of venom.
"You know how people are. They'll come up with stories about famous people. You don't have to worry about that kind of thing. Sure, most rumors have some truth to them, but that's not always the case," Vyra gave an awkward chuckle.
"Yeah. Rumors are common. But it's kind of funny how a few of them didn't get enough traction," Hera said.
"Really? Like which ones?" Vyra's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Like the one that I melted someone's face because they called me something I didn't like," the Ophidianite replied bluntly.
Vyra blinked slowly, taking a step back. "C-can you do that?"
Hera nodded. "It is possible. Either by changing the poison to become so acidic that it would burn someone's face off or making the poison react with their sweat to do a similar effect. But you know, rumors. Not all of them are based in truth, right?"
Vyra took another step back. "R-right. Anyway, you should get going. I'll catch up with my team, and we'll talk later. Bye," the harpy quickly flew away, not wanting to discover if what the Empress said was true or not.
"I guess I should have expected it. After all, Neria isn't the only one with that specific kind of kink. But calling me a dominatrix is a bit much," Hera grumbled as she walked toward the doorway.
It was located right at the entrance of a cave, and on the very top was the image of some roots wrapping around a rock. Hera quickly touched it, making a notification appear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Would you like to be transported to:
The Ashen Root - 12th Layer
[Yes] [No]
Or press the button below for your private room:
[Enter your Private Room]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pressing yes, the feeling of being dipped into warm water flooded her body before the Empress appeared in the next room.
It was dark and long, with only a single light source coming from an orb above Sirlo.
"Hey. Did something happen? You took a while to get here," the Triton asked.
"Don't worry about it. I was just dealing with a rumor I didn't like," Hera replied as she walked forward.
Sirlo frowned but didn't say anything about it. "Did Vyra tell you about the question he asked?"
"Actually, no. Was it a good one?"
"It had the same result. I did put the questions on the tablet. Did you get a chance to read them?"
"Not the new ones. Give me a minute."
They stayed in silence for a few moments while Hera went over the questions. They were mostly about the behavior of various monsters inside a specific area. The area where the lab should be located. Among the questions was a list of all the species of monsters and other animals that existed in the room. She had already suspected it, but once the Empress read the last question, she confirmed her suspicions.
"Hey, I understand that we're asking about the current patterns of the animals, but can't we just ask which ones had any behavioral changes caused by an outside source?"
"We tried that, or at least a different phrasing of it. The guide can't answer that because it involves people."
"What if I use the time frame? Ask about recent changes? Do we have any idea how long it's been since the humans got here?" Hera asked.
"We don't. We did try going for a specific time frame, but that didn't work. We're assuming that because of the human presence, the changes are still going on."
The Ophidianite nodded. "Just so I understand, what are we really looking for here?"
"We're trying to see if we have any patterns on the behavior of the humans who patrol the area. Since we weren't able to conduct a proper scouting mission, we're running a bit blind here."
"I have an idea, then. At what time will we start the operation?"
Sirlo pulled out the tablet and wrote down a message to answer. He was being overly cautious, but it was understandable. They were technically in enemy territory, and the Triton didn't want to make the entire plan go to waste just by being careless.
'We are starting at 1800 hours. That's 6:00 p.m. According to the information we got, this should be when the guards that took the prototype away are crossing their third doorway of the day.'
Hera nodded. "Okay. Give me a moment." She looked around and noticed a small stone structure. It was very similar to the bunkers she would occasionally make when calling the guides. The Ophidianite pointed to the building and gave Sirlo a questioning look.
"Yep. Feel free to use that. Once you're inside, I'll make it soundproof."
"No need. I can handle that part. Also, don't feel upset about this, but I'm going to have another group keeping an eye out," Hera said as she called her Court while walking toward the structure. Everyone stayed outside, but Viper followed her inside.
The Empress sat down on the ground and activated her soundproof bubble. She added a couple of extra walls to the small stone bunker and said, "I call upon the guide of the Ashen Root. As an Explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure."
There was a slow rumbling sound, almost like a stampede happening far away. The rumbling grew louder and louder until a tiny speck of gray appeared on the wall in front of Hera. That speck grew larger, as if it were something coming from the horizon, until a small skeletal boar skidded to a stop in front of her. The guide rose to his hind legs, revealing some black fur with streaks of white that resembled bones. It looked a lot like a boar wearing one of those skeleton outfits.
"Hi there," the guide said, shifting to look at Viper. "Oh, and hello to you too, and to you!" he said, looking at Daskka. "Wow. It's been a long time since I talked to three people at once. Well, in this setting. I'm Al. Nice to meetcha!"
"Hi Al. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Hera, and these are Viper and Daskka. They're part of me, so it's not breaking any rules."
"Oh, I know, I know. The others told me all about this. It's all good."
"I'm glad. Al, do you mind if I ask you a couple of personal questions before we start?" Hera asked.
Al opened a smile and put one hoof over his chest while slightly turning away. "You're interested in little old me?" he laughed. "I might not be able to answer everything, but sure."
"Do you know what's happening with the Strength Spirits?"
"That you save them? Well, the ones that are still in their homes. Yeah, I know."
"And about the ones that I didn't save?" Hera asked.
Al's face turned somber, some of the happy-go-lucky attitude vanishing. "Yeah. I know about them too."
"And how do you feel about that?"
"Oh, I hate it. I don't think there's a single guide who likes what's happening to them. Spirits are one of the few creatures that can live as long as we do. And they always come back in one form or another, unless they turn into demons. So, yeah. I hate that."
Hera nodded. "Okay then. I assume you know what we are doing here, but I'm going to tell you. We have a plan to go into a lab that we believe is in this room and destroy the means the humans have to make more Soldiers of Strength. We have good intel that the lab is here, but I'm not asking you to confirm that."
Al frowned, his eyes analyzing the Ophidianite. "Ok…."
"Now, we believe that the entrance to the laboratory is here," Hera pointed at a specific part of the map, "and I'm not going to look at you right now because I don't want your face to give anything away. Are you with me so far?"
"I am. I'm still not sure what you're doing here, but I'm curious."
"Another thing. Even if we are unable to ask about other people who are inside your room, you know they're there and what they are doing. So, if there is a circus passing by, you would know their schedule, their location, and any tricks the games in the carnival could be pulling on the customers, correct?" Hera was very careful not to mention the lab directly, ensuring it wouldn't overlap with information they already knew, allowing the guide to answer the question.
Al frowned. "In a hypothetical scenario where a circus is passing by, then yes, I would know all those details."
"Now comes the question. And you might need to start a timer now. I really hate to not get to know you properly, but we are kind of on a schedule here, and I think you can agree with me that freeing the Spirits is a bit more important than meeting new people."
Al nodded. "Okay. I'm following so far. Here's the timer." He tapped his hoof on the ground, and a small flower appeared. "When the flower turns to ash, the time is over. It's going to slowly turn gray and then crumble away. I can give you a natural clock if you prefer, but this is just fun."
Hera smiled. "That's perfect. I have a feeling I'm not going to actually spend five minutes asking questions. Either way, the first question is—considering that we want to find the best way to reach this spot," she pointed at the map where they knew the laboratory was located, her finger touching the exact point where the entrance was supposed to be, "we would be in a group of 20 people and we are going to leave from this doorway at exactly 6:00 p.m. tomorrow. Taking all that into consideration, what is the best question I could ask in order to know the best path we should take without encountering any monsters or anything else that might be on our way to get there?"
Al's eyes sparkled as he heard the question. "Girl, that's a nasty question. I don't think anyone's phrased things like that before. I am kind of flabbergasted right now."
"Thank you," Hera smiled with a smug expression.
"But that's also very risky. We don't have another Explorer here. If that question takes up all the time, we won't have a way to ask the question you figure out," Viper spoke up.
Hera slumped back. "Shit, you're right. I didn't think about that."
This time, Al was the one with a smug expression. "Lucky for you, this question is going to take about half the time you have left, leaving just enough for one more question," he winked and paused for a moment.
"I believe the best question for that scenario would be asking me to show the path taken by the pack of Brutehorned Lizards during the spring of 1584 and translating their movements into what someone could do in a single day."
Hera, Viper, and Daskka broke into big smiles. "Then, Al, could you show me the path taken by the pack of Brutehorned Lizards during the spring of 1584 and translate the movements into something that I could do in the span of a single day?"
Al tapped the tablet in her hand as the information appeared, including timestamps of how long the pack waited in specific areas before moving, with the actual time translated from days or weeks to minutes and hours. The skeletal boar watched the flower turn to ash before turning to Hera. "I have to say, I'm glad you're on our side. If you were using your powers for evil, we'd be fucked."
The Empress chuckled. "I promise I'll do my best to remain pure and always be kind… to the guides at least."
Al laughed. "I'll hold you to it. And if you don't mind, I'll send you a message once this is all over."
"Of course not. I would love to talk later."
"Well, it was short, but I have to go," Al said, turning around and starting to walk away but stopping before crossing over the wall. "Hera?"
"Yeah?" the Empress looked up from the tablet.
"If there is a laboratory here turning Spirits into demons, give those scientists hell."
Hera tilted her head. "I didn't expect you to be so kind. I had something much worse planned than hell," being so close to the people who created the Soldiers of Strength made her blood boil. All the rage she felt when she saw Silah rushing back.
Al smiled as he dropped to all fours and started running. The Empress waited until the gray speck was completely gone before dropping the soundproof bubble and walking out. Thanks to her question, the operation was going to start on the right foot.
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