MAZE - The Endless Quest

"He... I"m going to have a long talk with him later. What he said just scratches the surface. Being part of an organization means you can take quests from that organization, access databases, and exchange contribution points to items and weapons. Later on, we can start receiving monthly contributions for your work or get a sort of grant for any work you want to do. In my order, some people opened shops with the support of our members. Others went on a year-long pilgrimage to train. I got a sizable grant that allowed me to spend a couple of years on my research. If it weren"t for them, I would need to split my focus between my work and a side job to make money," Helena explained.

"Oh, wow. Yeah, that seems much better than just a group to help you out. But why would you take new explorers?"

"Well, a few reasons. First, we might see something in them. Maybe a skill or a drive that seems to be beneficial to our group. Second, it"s common to need something from the lower layers of the maze. Be it materials from monsters, items we find in shops, and even information sometimes. It"s much cheaper to hire someone in the lower layers than to pay the travel expenses."

"Do you have to pay the travel expenses when you make a quest?" Hera asked.

"Not really, but why would someone take the quest if they might end up losing money in the process. It"s kind of a hidden agreement that the quest reward must include possible travel expenses if you posted it in a different room."

Hera nodded, in cla.s.s, they learned that quests could be posted from anywhere. All you need is a branch from the guild and you can set up different rewards for different rooms.

"I have just a few more questions. Do you guys have a rule about accepting quests from other organizations or companies? And can I work with people from other organizations?" Hera asked.

"Yes, and yes. Although there have been times when a company or an organization was shunned for a while, those were not specific to our organization, but a decision from the whole guild. That only happens when someone messes up big time. I"m talking like international problem big. The last time that happened was because a party stole another party loot from a dungeon. The problem is, the party that lost the loot from was part of the US military. They played it as a direct attack and demanded the loot back. It was a whole thing that ended with an apology, their loot back, and the guild punishing the entire Night Cats alliance for a year. I think that was uncalled for, but we all had to abide by the guild ruling in that case, even if it was just about politics. And the Night Cats were fine. They enjoyed the notoriety even though I agree that what they did was wrong," Helena grunted.

"Yeah, I mean, they were in the wrong, but the government saying it was an attack seems too much."

"Anyway, any other questions?"

"Just one, where do I apply?" Hera said.

Helena quickly sent her a link where she could apply. Since the mage had a high rank inside the alliance, she could approve Hera right away. This wasn"t something so unusual since headhunters could recruit someone anywhere and speed up the approval process.

"For the first couple of months, you are considered in the trial period. So try no to cause any international incidents, ok?" Helena joked.

"Sure, I"ll wait for the third month before targeting the military," Hera said.

They laughed and kept enjoying the party. Helena told Hera a bit more about her new faction. She was explaining how to request something from their armory or ask for help. She also showed the explorer a few pictures of the higher-ups, just in case. After a few more hours, people started to leave, and Hera looked for her friends. There was one last thing she wanted to do today.

After a few minutes, she found Leo and Blue talking near the food table.

"Hey guys, have you been recruited already?" Hera asked.

"Nah, my master told me of a few organizations, but none of them are here. I"ll apply through their website later. The ones here feel a bit too specific," Leo said.

"Me neither. I wanted to work with Frostbite, but after seeing that she made an offer to Anaya, I"m not sure anymore. I"m positive they would make us work together, and I don"t need to say why I hate that idea," Blue explained.

Hera and Leo nodded. Working with Anaya was the last thing any of them wanted to do.

"What about you?" Blue asked.

"I joined the Order of the Lost Court," Hera said with a big smile.

"What"s that one?" Alex asked.

The trio jumped. They failed to notice the woman approaching them.

"Oh, sorry. I"m not used to the role just yet," Alex said.

"Which role? Ghost?" Blue Bleated.

"a.s.sa.s.sin. It upgraded my hide, so now it has a pa.s.sive effect," Alex explained.

"If you keep doing that, I"m getting you a bell. I don"t need this stress here," Leo said.

The group talked a bit more, Hera told them about the order and said she could check with Helena if any of them wanted to join. Blue, Alex, and Leo said they wanted to look at some other groups first but Bonnie, who caught the end of their conversation, was very interested in the idea.

Hera asked them when they would go to the MAZE. They wanted to go soon, but Bonnie and Leo had a few things to take care of before going. They agreed to meet up on Wednesday to go in together. But before that, they were all excited about the rewards. Not only they had the token from the guild, but aside from Bonnie, they also had Gwendelan"s token.

The group waited for an opportunity and moved to the elevator. Going straight down towards the guild armory on the same floor as the doorway. They got some directions from a guild clerk and proceeded to the left hallway, following the sound of metal hitting metal.

Walking through the hallway, the group reached a large gla.s.s wall. Inside it, there was a big workshop where a few people were hammering away at different types of metals. Just by glancing at it, Hera could see one of the forgers sharpening a spear.

"I never knew we had a forge in here," Alex said.

"I know, right? Do you think they use magic to keep the smoke away?" Blue asked.

"Maybe, but good old engineering could do that too," Leo answered.

Past the forge, there was a door that leads to what looked like a gear shop. There was a large balcony with various weapons, armors, and accessories in the display. Near the register, there were a few flasks with a variety of liquids inside. Above the register, there was a small sign that read "The Armory."

On the other side of the counter, there was a thin man with an uneven chin beard doing something with his tablet.

"Hi, we are here to get our gear. We got a token for graduating," Blue said as she approached the counter.

The man let out a long sigh and got up, placing his tablet on a desk behind him.

"All of you?" he asked.

"Yeah, all of us. We have a token from the quest too. They told us that we should redeem it here," Blue said.

"Fine. Show me the tokens, and I"ll see what you can get."

The group looked at each other. Some of their excitement had toned down after talking with the man. One by one, they showed the letters and tokens. The grades gave them a certain amount of store credit to shop, while the tokens gave them a pa.s.s for a few hours in the basic ATRs. The bronze one gave Blue a 5-hour cupon. She could use it for a couple of hours and then use the rest of the time at a later date. Alex and Hera got a 10-hour cupon. While Leo had the wooden token and got a 5-hour cupon for the advanced ATR, the same one they used when they learned about the roles.

The man also said that any unused credit from the store would go to waste, so they could either go over the credit and pay the difference or use it up by buying a bunch of rations and miscellanea.

The group started browsing. Hera didn"t need a weapon since she already had Iris, who was on her bed at home. But she could use a chakram, maybe tying it with the Yarnball could give her a ranged attack until she figured out something better.

After around half an hour, all the recruits got everything that they wanted. Leo had a spear and a set of moss green and brown clothes that could mix well with a forest. Alex picked a couple of daggers, an enchanted cloak, and a pair of boots that made her steps even quieter. Blue took the longest to decided and ended up picking a full set of kevlar armor. When trying it, she looked like a superhero. Bonnie got a hat that channeled mana and an orb that increased her magical capabilities. Even if the girl was yet to learn magic, she was already getting ready for it.

Hera picked a set of waterproof clothes, a belt with various satchels around it, a pair of boots made for heavy impact exercise. She also got a spring cane about her hand"s size, but at the press of a b.u.t.ton, it turned into a 2-meter tall metal rod. To put it away, all she had to do was twist the ends, and the rod would go back to its pocket size.

By the end of it, she still had 150 gold in credit. She was thinking about spending it all in potions for the group when she noticed a dark iron chakram in the wall. It had a grip on the base instead of the middle like the ones she used before. The blade had a simple design for the most part, but spikes that looked like wings would curl up, forming a backward flow to it.

The weapon was marked as being on sale. But it was still 350 gold. Even if she used the credit, it would still cost her 200 gold. She checked the status of the weapon, just to be sure it was worth it.

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Mayura"s feather (Chakram)

Rarity: Uncommon

A chakram created by a blacksmith"s apprentice. Crafted from the feathers of a dusk peac.o.c.k. Due to the technique used on its conception, the feather changed the color of the iron instead of strengthening it.

Attribute scaling:

Agility x 1.07

Additional effect:

Increased magical compatibility.

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Seeing its stats, Hera couldn"t understand why it was on sale. The weapon was technically a failure since it received the wrong attribute from the feather. But the additional effect seemed really good. When asking the man in the shop, he just asked, "Would you rather pay the full price?" that shot down any other questions she had about the weapon.

Having her friends incentivizing her, Hera bought the weapon.

"When we go inside, we will help you make that money back," Blue promised.

The group left the store after paying for the equipment and were about to get into the elevator when an attendant stopped them. She explained that they couldn"t walk around with weapons and such and lead them all to separate locker rooms where they could keep their adventuring gear. Those were very different than the ones near the gym on the ground floor. Each locker was a walk-in closet. They could not only leave their belonging there but also change into their new clothes.

Hera told the clerk about Iris, worried that she might get in trouble, but the clerk simply told her to bring the weapon in a bag next time.

After making sure their new gear was safe, the group agreed to wait until Wednesday to go inside the MAZE together. As Hera made her way back home, she wondered if she would be able to sleep in the next couple of days.