Hera cried for fifteen minutes. Now she was hugging her legs while staring at her handaxe. Peaches did its best to calm the explorer, but whatever happened in the simulation shook her.

"Talk to me, kid. What happened? Everything inside there was a simulation."

Hera sniffed, "I still killed him."

"He was already dead, kid. Whatever you did, there did not affect that."

Hera didn't take her eyes out of her handaxe, "Still, I killed a sleeping man. What does that say about me?"

"Nothing, you just did what the system asked you to."

"Great, so I would kill someone as long as something tells me to."

Peaches shook his head, "Kid, listen to me. That was a part of a quest, just like the ones from the explorer's test. Everything inside here is fake."

"I still killed someone in cold blood. I'm a monster, just like him."

"Oh, for the system's sake, you are not a monster kid. You killed a guy in a simulation, and now you are freaking out like you had to put down a puppy. If anything, you are too sensitive for the MAZE," Peaches huffed.

"I guess you are right. I shouldn't have come here. I'm not strong enough to be in the MAZE."

Peaches jumped down from the counter and bounced towards Hera.

"Kid, look at me," Hera kept staring at her handaxe, "Look. At. Me," Peaches insisted.

Hera's gaze shifted towards the guide.

"Being like this means you have a heart. You are this upset by killing a monster in a video game. That sicko would find this too boring. I'm sure of it. The fact that you fight every day and still are worried about not crossing that line is what proves your strength."

Hera didn't reply. She just kept staring at her handaxe.

"Look, kid. I wish I could give you some time to figure this all out, but the timer is still going."

"How long do I have?"

"A bit over twenty minutes. The problem is that I can only clear any questions you have about the skills during that time."

"There is no notification about the quest," Hera replied.

"Yeah, because I'm holding it back. Can I let it continue? You got the skill, and your relic will get an upgrade because of what you did in the last room."

"Can I refuse the skill?" Hera asked.

"Kid, think very carefully about this. Are you telling me you want to give up all that you did here? Even if you say yes, it won't erase the past hours. Do you really want to get out of here feeling like crap and without any new skills?"

Hera hugged her legs even tighter, shoving her face in her knees. She couldn't help but worry that something bad would happen with one of her friends, and she would be powerless to help again, "No. I need the skill."

"Okay, good. I honestly don't even know If I could not give you the skill," Peaches said.

"Then why did you ask?"

"Because I'm worried about you. I wasn't expecting you to take this so hard."

"Me neither. She was right. I'm just a plain girl who knows nothing about the world."

Peaches stared at Hera," Who said that?"

"My mom."

"Your mom?! I knew some humans could be harsh, but what kind of bitch would say that to their child? I know monsters that treat their spawn better," Peaches looked at Hera with a worried expression, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend your mother,"

Hera smiled, "It's fine. You are not wrong."

"Is that a smile? Are you able to smile again?"

"It was involuntary. It doesn't mean that I'm okay with what I did."

Peaches nodded, "That is ok, kid. You don't have to be fine with that. You just can't let it eat you from the inside."

"I'll try," Hera said, cleaning the tears from her face, "Can you wait for me to use the bathroom?"

"Sure, kid."

Hera got up and headed to the rest area. Peaches noticed that the explorer made a point of not bringing her weapon.

Hera splashed water on her face a few times. Her eyes were still red and swollen. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about what happened. Although, maybe Alex and Bonnie would like to know the origins of the role. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the sleeping emperor and her handaxe heading towards its throat. Hera went to the room on the side and drank some water to calm herself down. But the guilt still remains. She needed to distract herself somehow. Maybe she could go hunting when she got back.

Moving back to the reception, she found Peaches standing beside her, handaxe, "I'm ready."

"Ok, kid. Firsts things first. Pick up your weapon. It wasn't the blade that gave you bad memories."

Hera stared at Iris for a moment. She knew Peaches was right, but still, just looking at the handaxe made everything much more real. After a few moments, she picked it up and placed it on her belt. She couldn't keep fighting with her chakram alone.

"Very good, kid. Now for the skill."

A notification appeared in front of Hera.

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You have completed the Explorer's quest - Assassin Skill.

By completing the bonus room, your relic will receive an upgrade.

Rewards:

Explorer's Assassinate Skill

Relic Upgrade

Hide skill rank up

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Explorer's Assassinate

Role Skill

Increases your ability to move undetected and the strength of attacks when your target is unaware of your presence. Some spells and skills also gain benefits from this effect.

If you get discovered before attacking your target, you will suffer a penalty to your damage.

Hide effectiveness increase: + 15%

Bonus damage when hidden: + 15%

Penalty to damage when discovered: - 35%

Penalty duration: 300 seconds

Skills and spells related to the Assassin role can be affected or changed by this skill.

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Skills affected:

Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina, Hide, Inspect, Observe

Spells affected:

Pulse

Spell Discovered:

Poison Spray -> Poison Needle

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Hide (Rank 3)

Improves your ability to erase your presence and blend with your surroundings.

The more your appearance harmonizes with the place you are in, the more effective this skill becomes.

Requirements: Not being in the line of sight of your target/ hiding place.

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"Wow, that is a lot," Hera read through the list of things that were affected by the role.

"You may say that, but your role ends up affecting just some skills. A real assassin will have those benefits in everything."

Before checking Yarnball, Hera took a look at the changes in the skills. [Dodge], [Run], and [Improved Stamina] just got a small buff. They would be 15% more effective when she was hidden. [Hide] description stayed the same, but according to Peaches, Hera would have a better instinct of how to move and remain hidden. [Inspect] would also give information on the target's primary sense. If it was a creature that focuses on smell, hearing, sight, or something else. As the skill got stronger, more information would be available. [Observe] now showed a small eye indicator when Hera was hidden. The eye could let her know if the target was alert or not, but the skill wouldn't be able to tell what Hera didn’t know. If something were just pretending to sleep or using smell or sound to track her but not showing any signs of it, the indicator would show the target as unaware.

For the spells, Pulse would spend more mana when used while hiding, but it would be harder to notice by other creatures. The Poison Spray still appeared to her, but now there was a different option. If she changed the spell's shape for a concentrated smaller attack, it would be a Poison Needle.

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Poison Needle

Rank: Beginner

Creates a piercing projectile of poisonous mana. Creatures struck by that projectile can become poisoned. However, no impact damage would be dealt. The more mana used, the stronger the poison effect.

Range: 10 meters

Base mana cost: 35 mana

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What surprised Hera the most was that the Poison Spray apparently had impact damage. It was just like spraying someone with deodorant. She never considered the hit to do anything aside from poisoning.

There was only one more thing to check.

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Yarnball - Explorer's relic

An extremely resilient string that takes its strength from its owner. It can return any objects attached to it to the user, be used as a dowsing rod, or as a threat alarm.

Passive effects:

Returning string

If an object is tied to the string when thrown, the object will return to the case after reaching the maximum distance of the string.

Current maximum distance: 10 Meters

Danger sense

When the object is near a monster, it pulses according to the distance of the creature. It can only detect some monsters that are hidden. The range of this effect depends on its owner's strength.

Current range: 5 meters.

Range while hidden: 10 meters

Active effect:

Dowsing rod

By letting the string loose and pointing it down, you can ask about a location, item, or creature. The string will point towards the direction where the query is located. The accuracy of this effect depends on its owner's strength.

Cooldown: 120 hours

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Not only she got a range buff, but she could even detect some hidden monsters. And the dowsing rod ability had a nice cooldown reduction.

Peaches explained to her what the skill would do. If Hera's target was unaware of her presence, the damage would be increased. But if her target discovered her, she would deal less damage to it for five minutes. That would only affect the target she attacked, so if other creatures saw her but Hera didn't attack them, the debuff won't trigger if they see her.

It was basically what Alex told her. But it was nice to have someone to clear any doubts. The two talked some more about both the skills and what Hera learned during the test. When the timer had only 5 minutes remaining, they agreed it was time for the explorer to leave.

"Before I go. Can I ask you one thing, Peaches?"

"Sure, kid. Not like you held back so far," the guide laughed.

"If I hadn't killed the Emperor, would I get the upgrade?"

Peaches shook his head, "No, the test was about recreating what happened. If you had walked away, you would have failed."

"Then why give the option?"

"I think you know why. Not everyone can stomach the idea of killing a human, even a virtual one."

Hera nodded, "Guess I'm living proof of that, right?"

"Not really, you finished it. Many explorers weren't able to do that. Most didn't even get the chance. They didn't feel confident enough to beat the test a second time in case they failed. To be fair, your time was better than the average too."

"Really? I thought more people would want the upgrade."

"Oh, they do. Trust me. But they fear failing the test even more. I do get it. It will probably be a while before you can get a new role skill after this."

"Yeah, I need a skill at rank 3, not sure when I'll get it," Hera said.

"Any idea what role you want to get next?"

"I have some ideas, but I would rather see what I’m going to need."

"It's rare to see someone without a plan. Just be careful, that doesn't always work out," Peaches said.

"I will. Thanks," Hera stared at the guide for a moment, before smiling at him, "It was really nice seeing you again, Peaches."

Peaches noticed that the smile wasn't as energetic as the one she had before the last room. The test still weighted heavily on Hera's mind, "It was nice seeing you again too, Hera. I hope we can meet again."

Hera nodded and left the reception through the last door. A notification appeared in front of her.

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Test Completed

Do you wish to return to [Brinefront]

[Yes] [No]

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Hera pressed yes and felt the feeling of warm water covering her. In a few moments, she was back in Brinefront.