Before starting to hunt properly, the group did a round of showing off. Each of them killed a frog on their own in demonstration of their skills. Bonnie's new spell would take around 15 minutes and all the Researcher's mana to make the frog go into a hibernating state. It was useful but very inefficient. If they hunted normally, they could have killed at least five frogs and already be halfway through the harvesting.

  Leo's skill was a bit odd. The spikes that shoot out of his prey harmed more the area than the actual frog. It looked like the spikes were created from the muscles near the monster's skin. The holes were very superficial, but the thorns shot out fast. A tree nearby the fight got holes almost halfway through the trunk. Meaning that, while it was powerful enough to damage the surrounding frogs, it wouldn't do much to the target itself.

  Alex had swapped one of her daggers for a longer one with a curved blade. It was close to a cutlass, but shorter, just about the size of her forearms. Using the wind enchantment, it increased the sharpness of her weapon by quite a bit. Now she could cut deep into the frog's skin and even make a considerable gash on the bone with a single strike.

  Blue was more effective than expected. The more she moved, the stronger the electrical current became. Since she was always spinning around, dodging, and blocking, it didn't take long for the electricity to be enough to stun the frog for a few moments. If she kept going for about five minutes, the current could start dealing some real damage to the monsters. The fact that the creatures were always wet also helped a great deal.

  Hera showed how the Poison Spray worked. She put a considerable amount of mana into the spell to make sure it would kill it fast. In just three minutes, the frog was too weak to fight back. In another five minutes, it finally died.

  The last to show off was Mark. He was already a decent shot, but his aim improved a lot during the previous couple of weeks. The Crafter tried making special arrows, but unfortunately none of his attempts were successful, even if he did have something in mind now that he was inside the MAZE.

  "Since I already was in the guild, I kept practicing every day. They even let me use one of the ATRs because of the tokens we found during our test," Mark explained as he removed one arrow from a frog's eye, "The one issue is going to be having to carry the arrows. Jasper gave me a blueprint for them as a graduation gift, worst-case scenario, I can make some arrows on the fly since I have the materials. But the ones I make in the city will be much better," he tapped on one of the pouches he carried as he was talking.

  For the first time, Hera took a moment to look at Mark's gear. He was wearing a small green hood that seemed to be a separate part of his outfit. Boots with a knee guard and baggy parachute pants tucked inside them. A beige short-sleeved T-shirt and two different belts, one on his waist and one going from the hip to his shoulder. The straps were filled with small satchels, and on his back, attached to his waist belt, was the quiver filled with a dozen arrows.

  "The only problem with all that is that you can only shoot 12 times. Can you protect yourself if someone gets closer?" Leo was scrutinizing Mark's get up.

  "Yep, this bow can function as a quarterstaff. I practiced a bit with it, too. The only problem is that I have to break the string to use it properly. I can fix it later, but I would be at close range for the rest of that fight," Mark showed the brown longbow to the group. It looked like a classic fantasy weapon. Two long and slightly curved pieced of wood and in the middle a dark handle, all connected by a string on the edges.

  Confident in their knowledge of each other's abilities, the group decided to look for some frogs to hunt together. If they wanted to work well as a unit, they needed to practice. Initially, they found a couple of small groups with just four to six frogs.

  Using the tactic they were starting to perfect, Hera and Alex circled around the monsters and quickly killed the ones farther away. Mark shot two arrows at the front frog, and Leo dispatched it with one swift strike in the middle of the eyes. Blue held the last one back while Bonnie hit it with a few Air Fists. They could finish the creature off by themselves, but it would still take some time. Instead, Hera and Leo attacked the beast from behind, delivering the killing blow.

  Leo looked at Tiger, who wasn't able to help during the fight, "Sorry, buddy, It's kind of hard to give you room with this many people," he turned to the group, "Say, can we go after a bigger groups? This is a bit too easy."

  They had to agree. With Mark and, more importantly, magic, the fights were becoming way too easy. Even the Crafter had to admit he wasn't playing as big of a part as the spells being thrown around.

  When fighting as a group, the frogs were hardly a challenge. They took five times longer harvesting the parts they needed for Mondy than actually attacking the monsters.

  "I know that we still need money, especially Mark, since he just got here. But could we just hunt for a while?" Hera asked. While she fought, she could forget her thoughts, but doing something less intense like butchering the frogs allowed her mind to wander.

  "Honestly. I'm in. I can get some pretty decent pay if I work in the forge. And it helps a lot with my role too," Mark was the first to reply.

  They all agreed with the idea. Bonnie wasn't that worried about money anymore since discovering the truth about her birth, and the rest wanted to test their limits. Searching the woods, they found an army of frogs big enough to be a challenge. A dozen frogs were sitting near a pond, with a large green one in the middle. It was almost as big as the toad Hera had fought the night before.

  Agreeing to use the same tactics, Hera and Alex spread out and went after the ones on the edges of the group. Bonnie started to create the cold bomb while Mark notched an arrow. When everyone was in place, Leo sent the signal for the group to start.

  Hera rushed towards the frog in front of her, getting ready to attack the creature's head. Before she hit it, Bonnie's cold bomb hit the front group of frogs. That made all the monsters turn towards the Researcher. The movement made Hera miss her first strike, with her chakram, she quickly slashed the frog's leg to stop it from going away. With a follow-up move, her handaxe sunk into the monster's back.

  Hera took advantage of the open wound and fired a Poison Spray before using her weapon's leverage to swing around the frog's face and open its neck with her chakram. The frog still took a few steps before the loss of blood and poison made it fall onto the ground.

  At the same time, Blue and Leo intercepted the frogs coming towards Bonnie and Mark. Surprisingly, Tiger, the small rain frog, held back one frog on its own. The small creature was going for some hit-and-run tactics, spinning around in the air to hit with its back instead of its head.

  Before Hera finished her frog, Mark had already shot four arrows towards the largest one of the group, hitting the monster in one eye. Two other arrows sunk deep into the frog's face, but the last one was broken by its tongue when the creature lashed out, aiming at Leo.

  The Hunter took a quick step to the side and lunged at the frog in front of him, his spear piercing the creature's mouth. Leo used the momentum of his attack, and the fact that they were in a slippery mud to push the monster towards the larger green frog in the middle of the group. Once the blue frog that had been stabbed was in position, several thorns flew out of the one he stabbed.

  Four frogs were showered in spikes while Blue grabbed a frog and tossed it over her shoulder, making the monster hit a large rock nearby. She kicked the creature to the side and dashed towards the next one. Her static buff already making her hair stand up.

  During the entire time, Mark kept flinging arrow after arrow towards the fray. He aimed at the ones farther away from the group to avoid hitting anyone in the middle. Yet, one of the arrows flew by just a few centimeters over Alex's head as she appeared behind a frog, stabbing its head, killing the monster in a single blow thanks to a combination of her Wind Sharpness spell and [Sneak Attack].

  Bonnie kept using her Air Fist spell to attack any frog that got close, giving room for her and Mark to change positions and continue their barrage of attacks.

  In a little over two minutes, the only frog remaining was the big green one in the middle. Leo and Tiger were spinning around the creature, taking turns attacking it. Mark was busy taking back the arrows when Blue called to him.

  "Mark, keep shooting. We'll get your arrows later."

  "Nah, let Leo practice with his pet," Mark waved off.

  "Honestly, you need more practice than them." Alex rolled her eyes.

  "Are you seriously telling me that I need more practice than the frog?"

  "Well, the frog didn't almost hit me!" the Assassin shouted.

  Mark opened his mouth a couple of times trying to come up with a response, but gave up and started to shoot the giant green frog, mumbling under his breath the entire time. In just a few moments, the last of the frogs had been killed.

  With that fight done, the group started discussing what they could do better next time as they left the area. Letting the frogs from the forest to feast on the corpses and continue growing from them.

  "I think you need a way to give us a warning when you are using that skill, Leo. The thorns almost got me," Blue commented.

  "Ok, but how? If I scream or just say, watch out, it might scare away the monsters."

  "What if you say the name of the spell you are using?" Hera suggested.

  "Yes please, Let me get a video from it too. Are you going to scream while you charge up too?" Mark was already grabbing his tablet from the holster.

  "Yeah, not gonna happen. Not only because of that," Leo pointed at Mark," But because if I have to scream, the monsters might be alerted. Not to mention that when we fight things that can understand us, that would give us many other problems."

  "Ok, then what?" Alex frowned.

  "What if you call the name of someone who is not in the group? Like 'Eddie, behind you?' It would still be a loud noise, but the tone seems less aggressive," Bonnie suggested.

  "Maybe... It still feels weird. I wish I could get the coms that the coalition uses," Leo scratched his head.

  "Why? What do they do?" Bonnie asked.

  "They work as an overlay when you connect various communicators together. It’s a visor with an earpiece. The basic one can already track your group's position, and you can use it as a walkie talkie. The ones that are only available for the higher ranks can show the silhouette of your group even through walls, link your compendium to the display, and even show how long your buffs and skills can last. It turns the combat into something from MMO game."

  Hera watched as Bonnie and Mark got more and more excited hearing the description. Their eyes were glimmering by the end of Leo's explanation. The Explorer had to admit that is seemed very useful, especially the part of linking with the compendium.

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  "We can check the stores in the city later for something like that. I doubt something that useful is exclusive to Leo's group," Alex suggested.

  The group agreed with the idea and went back to hunting. The next few groups of frogs were dispatched relatively quickly. However, Mark was feeling down for being the only one without magic. Seeing how much it bothered him, they all agreed to go to the Arcanist Lookout so he could learn how to feel mana with the ruins.

  After that, Bonnie volunteered to teach him some spells. According to the Researcher, she could help him more than the trainers in the ATRs.

  At the Arcanist Lookout, most of the group stayed near the ruins to increase their mana. Hera and Alex were the only two who wanted to keep hunting. Leaving the others, the two women kept killing the frogs in the surrounding area.

  After about three hours of hunting, Hera noticed that Alex seldom needed a second strike to kill one of the frogs.

  "Do you have a skill to increase your damage?" Hera asked.

  "Sort of, it's part of my role skill. My hide got a buff. If my target doesn't notice me, I can deal more damage with my attacks. It increased one rank since we came here, so now I deal about 30% more damage if my enemy doesn't see me, but they take 70% less damage if they find me while I'm hiding."

  Hera considered that for a moment. As Berthellemy said, Assassins could be much more effective when hunting on their own. Even if the penalty for being discovered was rather significant. Although even without the buffed [Hide], no frog was able to detect her before she attacked. Not only that, if she could hide well, she would also be able to go to dangerous places without much of an issue. Thinking back on what she had learned about how to get a new role skill, Hera had no idea how to start learning it. Turning to her friend, she asked.

  "Do you mind telling me how your role test was?"

  The group stayed in the ruins until sundown. Mark managed to unlock his mana stat, and Bonnie was trying to explain to him how to use spells. The Crafter was having some trouble understanding how to transform the formulas into magic.

  Once they returned, Hera was still talking to Alex about her role and how the Assassin skills worked. It was a bit different from what she expected. The [Hide] buff wasn't about making the skill more effective, but about making your body move in a way that would cause less noise.

  After Alex got the skill, she became more aware of the sounds that followed her steps and movements. The damage part was about knowing where to strike. When hitting a weak spot on the target, a skill would trigger, increasing the damage dealt as long as the creature wasn't aware of her presence. Alex also said that she wasn't sure how that would work with attack spells. She knew that projectiles gained the same benefits as her weapons, but that was all.

  While explaining the concept, Alex and Hera also came up with a few ideas to allow the Assassin to do multiple strikes before being discovered. They would attack the same creature together, but Hera would be in a more visible position. That way, the monster would think that the attack came from only one person, and Alex could attack again. It was a crude concept, and it would put Hera in a precarious position, but it could be an interesting approach if Hera took the role of a vanguard.

  Leo and Blue kept talking about how their formation could work, now that they had one more person to protect and one more four-legged member on the front lines. Hera couldn't help but notice how everyone was busy thinking about how to get stronger. It was nice seeing that even after coming to the MAZE, the group was still the same. Helping each other improve and having their little study sessions.

  "Bonnie, how the hell do you put Y mana into something?" Mark groaned.

  "What do you mean? You just do it. You say that this is Y mana and put into the equation," the researcher replied.

  "Can anyone else teach me? This is too much math for me."

  Blue turned toward Mark, "Are you better with logic? I use the programming method."

  "Wait, your spells are programmed?" Bonnie gasped.

  "Yeah, I might suck at studying, but I can understand logic. It's even better if I don't have to deal with weird languages and can just say. Hey, if this happens, do that."

  Blue started to explain how Mark could use magic with a different method, and even Leo joined in to watch the lecture. They reached the city when Mark was starting to understand what to do. Despite being a muscle head, the Controller managed to use spells by following the idea of functions and commands quite well. The fact was, Blue had good memorization abilities, her biggest problem was in using that knowledge.

  The first thing Hera did when they got inside the town was check the thread about Helena. Even after a full day, there was nothing new about the rescue team. However, there was an update on the current state of the missing people. Korey's bracelet wasn't sending any more signals, which meant the crafter had perished. Samera, the Assassin still was fine, but Helena's was irregular. Someone had posted an explanation for the reading. Being in areas with a high concentration of magic, or being affected by some odd effect, could interfere with the readings, but as long as the signal wasn't completely flat, it meant that Helena was still alive.

  Hera's eyes were watering as Leo called her, "Hera, we are going to look for those coms that I talked about... Are you ok?"

  "Yeah, sorry. There was some news about Lena."

  "Bad news?" Blue asked.

  "Just news. She might be having some trouble, but she might be fine. It's hard to tell right now," Hera cleaned up the tears that were forming in her eyes, "I need to wait and distract myself for now. You were saying something about coms?"

  Leo nodded, "Yeah, we are going to see if we find some version of the visor I was talking about around here."

  Agreeing to go on a shopping trip, the group headed towards the Taaffeite district, where most of the commerce for exploring gear was made. They spent about two hours looking for equipment. A few shops knew what they meant but didn't have any in stock. Apparently, it was something that was mostly used on deeper layers.

  After some time, they gave up on finding it in a local shop. Going online, they found a few models being sold on a few different websites. The cheapest model, the one that only had a walkie talkie function and the direction indicator for other linked communicators, was a whopping 7 000 gold.

  Giving up on the idea of getting the visor for now, the group went to a restaurant to eat. Just as they sat down, Leo got a message from the Crimson Coalition. They had scheduled a training program for a new group of recruits for the next day.

  It was a mandatory thing, and it only took so long for him to be a part of one because there were not enough members before. It would be a one-week program, and he would be instructed in combat tactics and maneuvers. By the end of it, he would be assigned to a battalion. He still had his freedom to do what he wanted, but from time to time his battalion would be called for drills and quests.

  Mark told the group that he needed to work in the workshop. It was part of being one of the Forgershifters. He needed to put some time into working at one of their forges every month. Bonnie also wanted to tweak her spells and see if she could learn new ones. She had a few quests for the Order that she could do right now, mostly research. In the end, Alex, Blue, and Hera were the only ones without any urgent tasks.

  During dinner, Hera tried to look for information about how to get herself a new role skill. Talking to a few people online and seeing some articles about it, she was able to get some clues. Apparently, she needed to perform the same task one would perform while doing the role test they wanted. If she wanted to get the Crafter role skill, she needed to learn how to craft. If it was the Sync, she needed to change how her mana behaved. The best way to do it was to ask someone who had the role to explain how they passed the test.

  "Alex, do you mind talking to me about your role test? I want to see if I can get Assassin as my second role skill."

  "Sure, I mean, what do you want to know?"

  As they ate, Hera asked about how her test was, what she did, and the requirements for completing it. According do Alex. Her test was about not being seen and killing specific targets. During the first few days, she had to pass through a hallway without triggering the noise-sensitive alarms.

  Then she had to sneak by several scenarios and kill her targets in a single move. There were a few monsters like wolves, monkeys, and such. The last test was about making her way through a cave filled to the brim with giant spiders that spread their threads everywhere.

  She didn't have anyone to talk about the quest, only a video with a shadow figure explaining the task and demonstrating what to do. However, between each quest, there was a side room with some food and water, and a bed for her to rest. In that room, there were also a few screens showing a few monsters and their weak spots.

  Hera couldn't help to compare with her own test. The explorer's role was about finding everything. She wondered what the differences were for other tests. Could Fighters need to be angry to complete the quest?

  "Could you do that training with me tomorrow? I'm making my second role skill to be the Assassin's one," Hera's voice was a bit loud, and the whole table stopped once they heard what she said.

  With a frown, the Explorer looked around to her friends, "What?"

  "You want to learn the Assassin role? You? Hera? You?" Blue asked.

  "Yeah, I, Hera. What is the problem?" she crossed her arms.

  The group stared at each other, trying to see if someone else would say anything. The one who finally broke the silence was none other than Bonnie.

  "Well, you are too... well... let's say kind."

  "Yeah, you are too nice to be an Assassin," Blue chimed in.

  "Exactly, it's hard to picture you as a cold-blooded killer," Leo joined in the conversation.

  "What? I fight just like all of you. I already go for the one-hit-kill just like Alex. Why is the idea of me being an Assassin such a stretch?"

  "Well. To be fair, you are always helping us, and you try to be mindful of everyone. You are more like a deer than a shark," Alex said.

  "I killed the Goliath Toad on my own! No one helped me. That makes me a shark." Hera leaned back in her chair.

  "If you are a shark, you are small, cute baby one, trying to nibble at someone's feet," Mark said.

  Hera squinted at the group, "I can take any of you," she huffed.

  Blue laughed, "Probably, but that doesn't change the fact that you are just a kitty."

  "Only more reason for me to get the Assassin skills. It's time for the kitty to get its claws," Hera said before ordering a second dessert.

  "Awww, don't be like that. Come here, kitten," Blue went for a hug, but Hera held her back, turning the Controller's face with one hand while wrestling with her arms with the other one.

  "And this is another reason. This thing is my roommate. After today, I need to be able to hide from that," Hera pushed her friend away, "Can you teach me, Alex?"

  "Sure, we can go tomorrow. It might be good for me to focus on increasing my hide skill."

  "Can I go too? I know that I'm part of the vanguard, but knowing how to hide better can help sometimes," Blue asked.

  Hera turned towards the Controller, "Are you sure you are not saying that just because you would be the only one alone?"

  "I don't wanna stay the whole day in the gym again. It's boring to be alone," Blue pouted.

  "Don't worry, Blue. You can join us," Alex said.

  "As long as you stop with the kitten thing. It's way too creepy," Hera stared at Blue.

  Agreeing to her terms, the Controller was allowed to join the hiding training. Finishing their meals, the group went back to the hotel to rest. Before bed, Hera and Blue had spent the last couple of nights watching old shows while they talked. In between episodes, as it had become her routine, Hera checked the thread about Helena as soon as she entered her room.

  There was a new update. The rescue team had made its way towards the doorway city in the Queeroni Wilds with Helena and Samera. Both were injured but alive. Tears started to flow from Hera's eyes while she read.

  Helena was alive. She wasn't alone in the middle of those monsters anymore.

  "Hera? What's wrong?" Blue asked as she left the bathroom.

  "They found her! They found Helena! She's hurt but alive."

  Blue jumped over the bed and gave Hera a big hug. This time, the Explorer didn't push her away. She had been so worried ever since the broadcast. Still, Hera knew it would take a few days before she could see Helena. Not only would she probably be with the healers for a while, but it would also take a few days before she could travel all the way to the outside.

  "Is she ok? What happened? Did they say anything else?" Blue asked, letting Hera go.

  As they read through the thread, they found a reply from the leader of the rescue team. Helena, Samera, and a few other survivors were holed up inside a giant hollow tree. Samera was hunting for supplies like food and water while Helena used her magic to hide the place. When the team arrived in the area, they fought a few of the monsters. During the fight, the tree was broken, and the team found the survivors. However, they were still dealing with a considerable group of wendigos.

  It was too much for them and they had to flee with the survivors. Samera was already wounded, and she wasn't able to help too much at the time. Helena used her spells to hinder the monsters. Taking away their senses, but one of the creatures managed to attack her before being affected. Yet, they managed to grab the entire group of survivors and bring them back to the doorway city.

  Helena was with the healers for some first aid, but she would soon be sent to a hospital on the 10th layer. The guild had this protocol set up for every survivor of the attack. They wanted to make sure to give the best care available to the people involved and make sure there weren't dangers involving contact with the creatures.

  Hera understood that it would take some time for her to be able to see Helena, but at least she knew that her friend was alive.

  "Do you still want to be an Assassin? Wasn't the whole point for you rushing to be strong to help her?" Blue asked.

  "Yeah, I still do. This just proves that I need to be strong to take care of my friends. And if it's one of you in trouble next time, I want to be able to help. I honestly hate how useless I felt."

  Blue nodded, "I get that. Honestly, I would get a bit crazy if that happened with my family. If it were one of you, I would be in a frenzy, but maybe not as crazy."

  "You just called me crazy like three times in a row," Hera pouted.

  "It was just two, and you fought a meter and a half tall toad on your own, so the description is accurate."

  Hera poked Blue with her elbow and laughed for the first time since the assault on the wall. All the weight she was feeling on her shoulders simply vanished. Soon she was sleeping soundly, finally being able to relax knowing that Helena was safe.

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