MAZE - The Endless Quest

Right now, Hera was going back towards the creek. She did that every so often, worried about going too deep inside the slime territory. The creatures seemed to reappear as soon as she left, although that helped her get the metal. It could be a problem if she needed to go through the forest and back.

Arriving at the creek, she washed the slime gunk off her hands and splashed her face with water. She was feeling tired, way too tired from being this early.

"Actually, what time is it?"

She picked her tabled and looked at the clock. Her eyes went wide. Was her tablet working? How could it be past 7 pm? She looked up. The sky was still as blue as always, without a hint of dusk.

Quickly getting up, she opened her Map and made her way back to the city. Hayden had mentioned that the slimes were attacking the city at night if even the village wasn"t safe. What would happen to her in the middle of the forest?

It took her two hours to get here. Maybe if she ran part of the way back, she could shorten that time. Hera kept moving as fast as she could without wearing herself out. The last thing she needed was to be exhausted when the creatures attacked.

After one hour of running, Hera was getting close to the village. According to her map, it would only take her around half an hour to get there if she kept going at that pace. Sadly, when she was only fifteen minutes away from the village, the sun disappeared.

It wasn"t like it had set, the way the light vanished made it look like someone had flipped a switch and then it was night. The only good part of it was that there was something that looked like moonlight covering the forest, even with nothing in the sky.

Hera looked back towards the path leading to the slimes. Even if they were coming, there was no way they would be here quickly. It took her a long time to get here. It seemed like she could move a bit slower. Hera stopped running. She was exhausted.

Thinking about why she ran, Hera felt silly. It made no sense. The slimes are so slow that it would probably take them all night to get to the town. They still had to make all the way back too. That thought lingered in Hera"s mind for a while. They have to go back, and she didn"t saw any slimes on the path towards their area. If they were coming from there, there was no way they all would die in front of the town. Even if this was a simulation, some slimes would still run away. Right?

As if replying to Hera"s questions, she heard the sound of a water balloon hitting the ground near her. She looked towards it and saw a slime on the dirt. That creature wasn"t like the ones she saw. It was red, and it was giving off a soft glow, almost like it was a glow in the dark sticker. The slime jumped towards a tree, using part of its body as a vine, then it swung to another branch closer to Hera.

After seeing the creature, Hera booked towards the town. If there was one of those around, there could be more. She wasn"t sure if the slime wanted to attack her, or if it was just heading to the village, but she didn"t want to stop and find out.

While running, Hera kept looking back. The slime was getting closer, and now more of them appeared. All of them had different colors than the ones she fought earlier that day.

Afraid of being swarmed by the creatures, she refused to stop moving, looking back and forth between her path and the slimes approaching so she wouldn"t receive a surprise attack. As she looked back, Hera saw a light in the corner of her eye, coming from between the trees. That slight distraction was enough to make her trip in one of the roots in the ground, falling face-first in the dirt. She tried to get up quickly, but a large shapeless creature landed on her back.

Hera rolled to the side, trying to squash it with her weight. But that only made the slime spread around her back. She saw a few other creatures approaching, and some that had swung past her seemed to turn back. Not wanting to be cornered by the monsters, Hera got up and ran towards the light she had seen. At the same time, she kept hitting her back with the side of the handaxe, trying to find the slime"s core.

Soon, she arrived at a big flower field that seemed to be glowing with white light. She looked back at the slimes that were chasing her. It was hard to see them moving between the trees, even with the soft glow they gave. But in the middle of that field, not only would they lose the ability to swing in the trees, but the light could help her see them coming.

Hera rushed towards the center of the field, still trying to remove the slime at her back. However, the creature simply let her go and went back to the forest just as Hera was about to cross into the flowerbed.

Not sure of what was going on, Hera kept going towards the middle of the flower field. Reaching a point where she believed it was safe, Hera spun around, grabbing her handaxe, ready to defend herself against the slimes. To her surprise, the slimes weren"t following her.

Looking around, she could see the shadows moving among the trees, but when they started to get close to the flower field, they changed directions. Unsure of the reason. Hera stepped gingerly through the flowers. One of the possible explanations was that there was something even more dangerous around here.

She tried to put some more distance between her and the trees. When she was comfortable enough, she looked at the flower and activated her [Inspect]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Moonlight Guardian Flora - Shrub

A close cousin of the Cestrum nocturnum, also known as Night-Blooming Jasmine. During the day, the flower was a greenish-white color, but at night they change to bioluminescent ivory coloration.

Unlike the Night-Blooming Jasmine, this flower releases a scent that repels weak monsters, emulating the presence of a stronger predator.

When ingested, its toxicity level is several times higher than that of the Night-Blooming Jasmine.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hera stared at the description for a moment.

"Really? Isn"t this a bit too useful?" she mumbled.

She couldn"t smell anything coming from the flowers, but according to the description, that was expected. Still, that was the first time she ever heard about this plant, and she wasn"t familiar with the name Night-Blooming Jasmine. She would need to look it up later.

Hera walked toward the edge of the flowerbed, being careful not to attract any slimes. She took a couple of the flowers and tossed them deeper into the forest. This time, the slimes didn"t seem to be bothered by the smell. The flowers also lost its glow the moment Hera plucked them.

"Ok. Should I just wait here for sunrise? But what if something else shows up? And what about the town?"

Hera stayed in the field for a few minutes, thinking about her options. It seemed safe to be in the area, but at the same time, she had no idea what else could be around. The town was also in danger. Sure, they were all part of the simulation, but could she let them get hurt? Even if they were odd, they still talked to her, asked for her help. Betty even invited her for a late lunch.

"It doesn"t matter what they are. They need my help. Besides, what if the machines take over and see that I abandoned an AI?"

Hera stopped for a moment after saying those words.

"I"m spending too much time around Mark," she sighed.

Looking at the map, Hera walked as close as she could to the town without leaving the flowerbed. By the distance, it should be a ten-minute walk. She crouched down towards the flowers and tried to scoop the dirt under them. That way, the roots would still be intact. It took her a couple of tries, but she eventually grabbed a piece of dirt with a considerable amount of the flowers still glowing. It broke her heart to see the mess she had just made. This was a beautiful place, and it wasn"t fair to destroy it like this.

She didn"t have time to be sad. She needed to get to the village as fast as possible. Holding the flower, she started to walk, her eyes darting around the area, looking for slimes. This idea was great in theory, but she had no clue if it would actually work.

After a couple of minutes, she saw one of the slimes coming towards her. Hera braced herself if this didn"t work, she would have to grab her weapons quickly to fight it. The monster approached, but before it got too close, change directions and circled Hera. Moving past her and towards the city.

Hera let out a long sigh of relief and kept walking. She wanted to reach the town quickly. The closer she got, the more slimes appeared. When she finally left the forest and saw the wooden cabins, an arrow when flying past her head. She looked back and saw that the arrow stuck a slime to a tree. Less than a second later, the creature dissolved. In front of the town, Hayden was notching another arrow in its bow, and aiming towards another incoming slime. The second arrow flew and hit the core of the monster.

Hera kept walking toward the city. Another ten slimes fell during that time Hayden used a single arrow to kill each of them. His aim was terrifying. Hera understood that it was probably part of the simulation, but it was still an incredible sight.

Arriving at the homestead, Hera started burying the flowers around the fence. She wouldn"t have enough to cover everything, but at least she could try to make sure that the slimes only came from a single side. It took her another ten minutes to finish the half circle around the village.

She quickly went inside, telling Hayden about the flowers on the way.

"Great, that means we are safe. Tomorrow we need to finish encircling the town. Ask Florence to help you with that. But we still need to know why those slimes are like this. So I"m counting on you," the hunter said, without ever stopping his arrows. By the time he finished speaking, another six slimes had fallen.

Hera nodded and stood beside Hayden, ready to attack the incoming slimes.

"I appreciate your help traveler, but you must rest and recover your strength. I can deal with the slimes," he said.

Hera looked at him,

"Are you sure? Don"t you need to rest?" she asked.

"I appreciate your help traveler, but you must rest and recover your strength. I can deal with the slimes," he repeated.

"Okay..."

Hera hesitantly walked into the village, worried if Hayden really didn"t need any help. The villagers were all in front of their houses, the same way they were when Hera left.

It was eerie. The town was being attacked, but they didn"t seem to mind. Hera talked to Florence, explaining about the flowers. The little girl said she could help to replant some of the flowers. She just needed the wheelbarrow from farmer Frank. Talking to Frank, he agreed not only to let them use the wheelbarrow but also help and said that they might need more muscle. Understanding what the point of all this was, Hera went to ask Betty for help.

Being already there, she gave the liquid metal to complete her quest.

"Thanks for the help. That is going to all I need to make the tools. Now say, you are still helping Hayden, right? Keep the weapons until you are done. And if you find some more metal, I can even make you your own set. And as a thanks, here."

Betty gave Hera a basked full of fruits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quest completedThe blacksmith"s plea

Rewards:Basket of fruitBetty will make you a new set of weapons if you bring her the materials~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They won"t last long, but at least you can eat for a couple of days."

Hera thanked the blacksmith and talked about the flowers and the plans for the next day. Betty agreed to help and Hera went back to the vacant cottage. She really wanted to rest. And since they would only grab the flowers in the morning, she could have a night of sleep.

She used the bathroom and cleaned herself up as best as she could using the sink. Feeling somewhat refreshed, Hera sat on the bed, leaving her pants to dry, and started eating the fruits. She would need to look for food soon, but she had a meal, at least for today.

Grabbing her tablet, she checked the missions. She found only one change among them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Role test: ExplorerThe green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test.

This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities.

Current discovery progress 30%[X] Discovered Woodland[X] Found Peaches[X] Discovered a way to protect the village from monsters[ ]?????????????[ ]?????????????[ ]?????????????~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~