MAZE - The Endless Quest

"Bonnie, how many times can you use the Cold Bomb?" Leo slashed at the incoming elemental, missing it altogether.

"I have three more casts before I run out of mana. Should I do it now?" Bonnie was unsure when was the best moment to strike. Her spell could help, but the monsters were too slippery.

"Let"s go to the round room. It"s smaller, and it doesn"t have anything. You won"t hit a rack there," Alex said, walking back towards the door, without taking her eyes off the creatures.

Carefully, the group left the room. Blocking and defending against the elementals a.s.sault. As they crossed the threshold, there was a slight respite in the attacks. However, that didn"t last long. Before they reached the middle of the room, the creatures flew towards the room and circled the group.

"Bonnie, if you can, try to hit more than one," Leo said as he got in his stance. It was the first time he ought those types of creatures. Because of that, his [Hunt] skill would do little to help in this fight.

The researcher gathered mana and aimed at the targets. The spell flew out of her hand, but the elementals changed course and stayed away from the attack"s area of effect.

"c.r.a.p!" Bonnie cursed.

The cloths were not only faster than the first one they fought but also smarter. If she kept throwing her spells like that, she would end up missing them all.

"We need to distract them somehow," Alex said as she tried to slash the elemental that just flew by her head.

"Easy for you to say. I can"t grab those things," Blue kept trying to reach them as if she was swatting a fly.

Hera threw her chakram up, but one of the creatures wrapped around the handle and started pulling it away. She quickly grabbed Yarnball"s string and pulled the weapon back. The cloth wasn"t strong enough to fight back, and the chakram fell. Hera pulled the cord, raising her arm. The weapon sc.r.a.pped on the ground and moved behind the explorer, making a pendulum motion. Remembering the small training she had done with the chakram before coming to Brinefront, Hera split off from the group, spinning Mayra"s feather through the string.

"Hera, come back!" Blue yelled.

"I"ll distract them. Bonnie aim for when they are coming to hit me," Hera changed the way she was spinning, now it was almost like a helicopter rotor. With that, the elementals weren"t able to get too close to the explorer. When they tried, Hera changed the way she spun the chakram and managed to ward them off.

Seeing the explorer, Bonnie started to cast the Cold Bomb once again. This time, however, she waited for the best moment to strike. Giving time for the elementals to be in a path she could predict. As one of the cloths went towards Hera, Bonnie send her spell.

The Cold Bomb hit the elemental, making it fall to the ground. Alex jumped towards it and cut it apart with her daggers before it could recover. As she did that, two other monsters went for the a.s.sa.s.sin. Bonnie used the Cold Bomb again, using it like a skill. She managed to hit both elementals before they reached Alex. However, because she had used the system version of the spell, her mana consumption was too big. She could only use the Air Fist right now.

With only two creatures remaining, Hera stopped spinning her chakram and stood by Alex, resuming her usual stance. The two were ready to get the elemental coming their way. At the same time, Leo and Blue prepared to take down the second one.

It took a few tries, but Hera and Alex finally managed to hit the cloth. After it got a rip, it became much easier to finish the job. Blue and Leo didn"t struggle as much since Bonnie was able to hit an Air Fist in the creature at the right time.

"Ok, this was more than what I was expecting. Is anyone hurt?" Leo sat on the floor, already sweating.

"I"m ok. The part that hurt me the most was when the first one tripped me," Hera walked towards the door, making sure there wasn"t any elemental around.

"I don"t think they were very dangerous. Aside from asphyxiating us, they didn"t do much else," Blue walked behind Hera just in case.

"I think they were supposed to be part of something more, like an alarm system or something. The question is, is there someone to answer that alarm now?" Bonnie paced around the room, thinking about the possibilities, "Anyway, let me try one thing."

She approached a wall and started to cycle her mana. A few moments later, Hera and Blue left the circular room to pick up the sash. The explorer grabbed the item and started to walk back when Blue said.

"Hey, what if more of those things show up every time you pick that up?"

Hera looked at her friend with wide eyes. A sudden realization dawned on both of them. Bolting towards the circular room, they didn"t even bother looking back. Only when they had reached the rest of the group did they stop and spun around, ready to face the enemies. But this time, there was nothing following them.

"What are you two doing?" Leo asked.

Explaining what happened, Hera showed the sash to the group.

"Can I take it?" Alex asked.

"Are you sure? It doesn"t seem like it will be very helpful." Bonnie said.

Alex shook her head, "Aside from the attribute bonus being the same attribute my weapons give me. If the effect is stronger, the slower you move, imagine how it will be when I"m sneaking around. Also, since we might find things with a keen sense of smell, understanding the wind better will help a lot."

Bonnie agreed, she failed to consider all the possibilities. Since no one seemed to want the item, Alex equipped it. Hera looked around the room, searching for the fallen elementals. She wanted to inspect one to understand it a bit more, but they were all gone.

"Apparently things in here disappear after they die. But they did leave some loot," Leo raised his hand and gave a coin to Blue and one to Hera.

They were gold coins, lighter than one might expect with a large number 10 engraved on it.

"Put it on your bracelet," Leo said.

Hera placed the coin on top of the bracelet, and the coin disappeared. She quickly grabbed her tablet and checked her virtual wallet. There was an extra 10 gold there.

"Ok, this is really handy," she said.

"Did they drop something else?" Blue asked.

Alex shook her head, "Nope, that was all. I feel a bit cheated since the frogs would give way more money. But I guess if you have a ranged attacker in the group, it will be faster."

"What will probably make us some money here will be the treasures we find, and the quest rewards," Leo said.

While the group waited for Bonnie to finish recharging, Hera went inside the room once again and activated her Pulse spell a few times. She wanted to be sure they were not missing anything. Sadly, the walls had too much mana inside them, so Hera wasn"t able to tell if there was anything hidden past them.

Whit, nothing else to find here. They went back to the entrance. Pa.s.sing through the hallway where the air current pushed them away was tricky. It was one thing to fight back the wind, let it push you without falling to the ground was very different. Hera said that it was better if they closed the door, just to be safe. So the group spent a few extra minutes pushing the steel door and locking it. Seeing the hatch up close, Hera noticed that the iron bar in the middle didn"t function as a lock, but it would push out the secondary frame around the door. That was the reason why they couldn"t hear the wind with the door closed.

Moving back to the center room, they found it almost as they had left it. The only difference was that the light in front of the door they came from was now a soft green.

"So, if this is a pentagram. That was the air room, right?" Blue asked.

Bonni gave a node and then pointed to the door at their left, "Yeah, and that one would be earth or spirit. It depends on if this was made from looking up or down. If it were built from above, it would be akin to looking at it through a mirror."

"And... What would be the other one?" Alex asked.

Bonnie replied after thinking for a moment, "Either fire or water if my notes are correct."

"I vote we go there," Leo said, without missing a beat.

"I agree, although I"m not as excited with the idea as Leo apparently," Blue stared at the hunter. He was way too eager to choose a different door.

They followed through the corridor, reaching a room, much like the book room after the air door. The main difference was that here all the tomes had a red cover. Looking around, they found no traps again, but all the books turned to dust as they touched them. In one of the tables, there was a large blueprint for a stone furnace. In the back of the room, there was a large door, but this one was made of stone instead of iron.

Opening that door revealed steel pa.s.sageway, with iron gratings on the floor spread around in set intervals. Not only that, but a breath of hot air came rushing out. It was almost enough to burn Leo, who opened the door. After a few moments looking at the inside, large flames came out of the grating, hitting the low ceiling and spreading like a backward waterfall.

"You are kidding me," Bonnie gasped.

"Any ideas? Or we give up this room?" Leo asked.

Hera kept watching the flames. The moment it stopped, she counted the seconds until they raised again. They had thirty seconds. It could be enough to run through the hallway, but it would be close. She waited for the flames to appear again, confirming that it was a uniform pattern.

Alex pointed towards the middle of the hall, "There seems to be a larger gap there. Do you think we could stay crouched and not get hurt?"

"Maybe, but it would be a bit tight. Leo, for instance, might have some problems with his spear," Bonnie said.

"Hang on a second," Blue said, getting a piece of jerky from her pocket, "Leo, hand me your spear."

She put the jerky on the tip of the spear and held it like she was going to barbecue the meat. She waited for the fire to burst once again and stuck the beef inside it. After a few seconds, the flames receded, and the jerky was still in one piece.

Blue tried to touch it but recoiled, shaking her hand.

"Yeah, it"s really hot, but it didn"t turn into ash," the controller said.

"So, this is a low heat flame?" Bonnie asked.

"I think so. I mean, it probably will still hurt if it gets us, like spilling hot soup on your lap. We can get very hurt, but it won"t turn us to ash," Blue said while eating her freshly cooked jerky.

"Hang on then," Alex walked towards one of the desks and pulled a chair, placing its legs above the grating. A few moments later, the flames rose again. When the fire stopped, the legs of the chair were still there, they were glowing with the heat, but they didn"t catch on fire," I think this is much more manageable than thought."

The group agreed to give it a shot, setting a timer in synch with the fire. Blue went in first, crossing the entire hallway in one go. Leo and Alex were next, doing the same. When Hera was about to go, Bonnie held her arm.

"Can I go before you? I"m not sure I"ll have the guts to go if I"m alone."

"Sure, not that I"m not freaking out here. Running through hot coal seems less stressful."

Bonnie gave the explorer a small smile and got ready to run. The flames were still raging inside the corridor.

"Remember, if you can"t pa.s.s the middle before we count to 14 stop in that open area and crouch."

Bonnie nodded and waited for the flames to go out. The second they did, she dashed as fast as she could. The rest of the group began counting in synch. When she was around a quarter of the way, the researcher tripped in one of the grates making her fall to the ground. Trying to scramble up, Bonnie realized that her foot was stuck in the grating. She pulled a couple of times and managed to free her shoes, but it was too late to run to the other side.

Hera watched the whole thing. Unsure if she should rush in and help her friend. The problem was the safe zone. It was too small for two people. She had to trust Bonnie, or they both could get really hurt.

Suddenly, Hera"s sight was blocked by the roaring flames.

The worst part.

She couldn"t tell if Bonnie had reached the safe zone.