'Hello, sweetie. Thank you for worrying about me. I'm almost fine. I think.

There were some weird results with the tests they did here in the hospital, so I'll be here for a while longer.

I'm sorry for not setting up Blue's admission with the order before everything happened. I'll get on it as soon as I can have a moment.

I hope the MAZE is treating you well.

Hope we can see each other soon.'

Hera felt tears rushing down her cheeks midway through the text. Helena was well enough to be using her phone. This time it wasn't someone else telling her that Helena was fine. It came directly from her friend. Cleaning her tears, Hera sent a reply.

'Lena, don't worry about Blue. Take care of yourself, and if you need anything, please let me know.

Things are going well here. I managed to hunt a giant toad on my own, and I can attempt the assassin role test too.

Also, I figured out the spell you gave me. I just did it, but I'll start to catalog the monsters that I see around here starting tomorrow.

I hope the tests don't come back with anything bad.

And I'm really happy you are safe.'

Hera told her group about the text and how Helena was already up and about, but still needed some time before she could leave the hospital.

"That's great, Hera! Are you going to start your assistant job?" Blue asked.

"I'm starting to get ready, but I'll wait for Helena to get out of the hospital before asking about the jobs she wants," Hera said.

"Oh, but do you have something to do right now, or are you just waiting?" Alex asked for the check. Today it was only the three of them having dinner together. Mark was dealing with a big order, and Bonnie was knee-deep in books.

"Well, I want to get the assassin role, and that is going to take a full day. I want to explore around the room too. Not to find anything specific, just to see what out there. But that has no hurry. I checked, and the role thing doesn't have an expiration date to start."

"So, tomorrow, do you want to keep going with the training?" Blue asked. Her eyes were deep, and Hera had noticed the woman rubbing her eyes during most of the meal.

"Your call. I got what I needed, but I'm not going to just go do my thing if you want to keep going," Hera finished her drink.

"Well, I don't feel like it's doing much for me. It's helping more with the repetition and letting me think more about how I move than actually hiding from something. I think I could train the same way on my own or in an ATR," Alex explained while fidgeting with the salt and pepper shaker on the table.

"Really?" Blue asked, the assassin just nodded in reply, "Oh please, let's stop then. This training is very boring, and I'm not sure I'm getting anything out of it."

They talked some more. Blue was feeling a bit too tired and wanted to take a day to rest. Not only was she going to the gym in the mornings, but she was also doing the hide training. It was a lot of work for just a single person. Alex, on the other hand, wanted to look around the city a bit. She wasn't a part of any groups, and now that she had some experience, she wanted to find an organization or a place for her.

Since everyone was doing their own thing, Hera decided to go for the assassin test the next day. She needed to do it alone, anyway. It was a good idea to take advantage of a day where everyone was doing something else.

Hera talked some more with Helena in the morning. The mage was feeling restless. Apparently, the doctors had found something odd with the results and were trying to figure out what it was. The main issue was that they were leaving her in the dark. Hera did her best to comfort her friend, but she wasn't sure if it was effective. Part of her wanted to stay talking to Helena, but when she said she would do another battery of tests, the mage told Hera to get her new role skill.

Unsure of what she would face in the test, Hera grabbed her gear, including the pocket staff that she had forgotten in her dresser. She picked a waterskin and some of the bandages from the first aid kit. She told Blue and Alex where she was going and headed to the doorway. When she touched the portal, a notification appeared in front of her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Role quest identified.

Do you wish to begin the [Assassin] Role test?

[Yes] [No]

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Hera pressed yes, and a familiar feeling of being submerged in hot water covered her body as she froze in place. The bright light was blinding, and she had to close her eyes. A few moments later, the light dissipated, and was able to look around. Hera found herself in a reception room, filled with screens on the sides and a large steel door on the back. Behind her, there was a secondary door, but that one was clearly painted on the wall.

Before she took another step, a notification popped in front of her

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Explorer's quest - Assassin Skill

You have acquired abilities that mirror that of an assassin. You may attempt the assassin role test to unlock the assassin related skills.

Hide from the monsters and kill the targets in each room to complete the test. If you are caught by any of the creatures in the test, you will be sent back to the reception of the room.

Rewards:

Assassin role skill

???????????

Failure: The quest will be lost. To attempt the test one more time, unlock the next tier of related skills.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What? Really? So this is why people say it's even harder on later levels?" Hera stopped to think for a moment. Even being that hard, it shouldn't be that difficult to get all the role skills. Why it became harder when she got more skills?

Before she was able to think too much, the monitors turned on with a message scrolling through the screen.

'The test requires you to kill the targets in each room before you can move on to the next.

You must stay hidden during the entire time.

If you are discovered, you will be attacked and transported back to the test's starting point.'

"Ok, so If I fail, I have to start the room again. That's on par with what Alex told me," Hera said to herself.

"Not exactly, kid," A familiar voice came from behind her.

Hera spun around, looking for the source of the voice. Her eyes meet a small green apple sitting on a desk.

"Peaches!" Hera rushed to it, "How are you?"

"I'm good, kid. A bit bored, but good. How about you?"

"I'm ok. Some stuff happened, but things seem to be ok now."

Peaches tilted its body, "Wanna talk about it? I can't stop the timer just to warn you."

"Ah, no. I mean, talking won't help. A friend of mine was a part of the team that broke through a wall, and things got crazy."

Peaches nodded, "Tell me about it. Those wendigos are scary things."

Hera raised her eyebrows, "Do you know about them?"

"A little. Not more than what you humans know. I just watched the broadcast and talked to the Qeeroni guide."

Hera stopped for a moment, "Wait... How can you talk about other guides?"

"There is no rule stopping me from talking about them right now. Besides, I've only said that they exist. That was something you could figure out by yourself," Peaches raised its body in a way that could be considered a shrug.

"Oh, so can you tell me about them? Is there one that I should try to meet?" Hera sat on a chair by the desk.

"I can, but I won't. That's not why I'm here."

Hera nodded, "And why are you here?"

"To do my job. Helping explorers get their skills."

"Oh? Really? I thought you would be only in the first test."

Peaches stared at Hera for a moment, "That's on you, kid. You never asked if I would be in another test. And I did say we could meet again."

Hera chuckled, "Yeah, but you were very cryptic."

"Well, you were the one who looked like death."

Hera nodded, remembering how hurt she was after the fight against the giant slime and how much Peaches had helped her during the test.

After a few moments in silence, Peaches cleared its throat, "As I said before. You got something wrong in your assessment. If you get spotted, you won't go back to the beginning of the room. You will be sent back here to the beginning of the test."

"What?" Hera's eyes went wide, " But Alex, an assassin friend of mine, said she would come back just to the previous checkpoint."

"Yeah, that is the assassin test. For explorers, you need to do it all in one go."

Hera frowned, "This seems unfair."

"You already got a role, kid. Not only that, but you also got a pretty good relic. Everything past that is just you being greedy. Besides, you are just level 3. The challenges you face here will be very straightforward."

Hera sighed, "Yeah, I guess you have a point. Any idea what I should do here?"

Peaches nodded to the screens, and a video started to play. In the video, a shadow humanoid figure opened the reception doors and was met with a dense jungle. The figure began to dash and hide behind trees, bushes, and vines. Some other creatures appeared on the screen, but Hera wasn't able to identify them. After around five minutes of the figure running through the trees, it found a larger shadow. Again, Hera was unable to figure out what it was, but the humanoid figure made a stabbing motion, and the screen went dark. After that, all the screens turned on once more. This time, however, they had several animals and monsters. There were a few pictures, a skeleton, and a description talking about their weak spots.

"All of those things will be there?" Hera asked.

"Not really. Just some. It's up to you to figure out what's your target," Peaches was looking around.

"Could I just go find it and then get attacked so I can come back and figure out?"

"You can do whatever you want, kid. But remember, you have a deadline. And we already wasted some time just talking. Not to mention the fact that you will have to go through each room again when you fail."

"Right, this is a valid point. Let me see what the screens say," Hera nodded before turning to the information around her.

There was a wide variety of creatures showing on the screens. From wolves and monkeys to salamanders and pixies. In the middle, there was even a chimera and a vampire.

"Peaches, is this information correct? I mean for the MAZE and not just the test," Hera asked.

"As far as I'm aware, yes. The information is correct. But the strength of whatever you find here will be scaled to your level. A few of those things can kill you before you even realize what happened if they are in their normal levels." Peaches replied.

Hera started to type everything that she could in her tablet. Trying not to waste too much time but still get all the information she could use, even if the creature wouldn't be her target. After about ten minutes of writing, she was ready to make her first attempt.

"Ok, then. If I pass this, will I still be able to see you?" Hera turned towards the green apple.

"Yep, I'll be in every reception you pass through. I'm also going to be watching you through the cameras. And if you need to rest or eat something, we have a room with a bed, a bathroom, and some fruit here," Peaches made a motion to the side where a small ‘employee’s only’ door was.

"Ok, thanks again, Peaches! I'll see you soon."

Hera opened the door, activating her [Hide] skill, and with her tablet in hand, started to move through the jungle. Peaches waited for the explorer to be far enough away and said in a whisper, "Sooner than you think, kid."