The creature gaze upon the pass

its body silently slither

it smiled as it saw the brass

finally, it was time to make it wither

Unknown - Recovered after the fire of 1753

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Hera had arrived in the inn that she was staying with her friends. After getting out of the test room, she received a few texts. Apparently, inside the skill trial, she couldn't communicate with anyone outside.

Blue said she needed to talk to Hera as soon as she left her test. Leo sent a similar message to the group text. But he would only talk to everyone later that day. Helena sent a text letting Hera know that she would arrive in Brilansis on the weekend and wanted to meet on Monday. Eridan, her dad, sent a reminder about grandma Triss's birthday. The party would be on Sunday. Hera had completely forgotten about that.

If it were someone else's party, Hera would consider not going. But it was Grandma Triss. Hera also needed to check her flat in Brilansis. It's been a while since she went back to her place. She could leave on Saturday. That way, she had a day to deal with anything, before she could take the train to her hometown.

Hera went straight to her room, finding Blue lying on the bed while watching TV.

"Hey! Back already?" the controller was holding a spoon and eating ice cream.

"Yep, I only had 24 hours to do it, unlike Alex. But I got the skill."

"Nicely done, killer. The kitty got her claws," Blue raised a hand, waiting for a high five.

Hera did her best to muster a smile and tap on Blue's hand. But the killer comment really hurt, "Thanks, but please don't call me killer, or assassin, or stuff like that. Some stuff happened."

Blue stared at her friend with a serious expression, "Is everything ok?"

"Not really, but it will be. Don't worry. I need to deal with this on my own."

Blue just nodded and took another scoop of ice cream, "If you ever need to talk, I'm here. And If you don't," she offered the sweet to Hera, " You can always drown your sorrows with this."

Hera chuckled, "Thanks. I'm not sure if it would work, but it never hurts to try."

She picked a spoon and took a large scoop, sitting on the bed by Blue.

"So, what is the big thing you wanted to talk about?" Hera asked.

"Well, I'm going to need to talk to everyone about it. But I'm taking a break from adventuring. My family had this big trip planned for almost a year now. And my dad finally managed to set everything up to take a vacation from his butchery. We are going to Brazil for a couple of weeks. The flight we got is next Wednesday. The tickets were on sale for a red-eye flight."

Hera took another scoop, "That is awesome! But, you don't seem excited. Why is that?"

"I am excited, but I'm not very good at letting people down. Or abandoning them."

"Who are you abandoning?" Hera asked.

"You guys. I know you need me to be the tank."

Hera poked Blue with her elbow, "Way to call us useless."

"That is not what I meant."

"I know, but you are not abandoning anyone. You are going on a trip with your family. No one will blame you for it. Well... Maybe Bonnie."

Blue chuckled, "That is true."

The two of them kept talking until the bowl of ice cream was empty. Hera needed that, something to occupy her mind. It was still the middle of the day, and Leo would only arrive late in the afternoon.

Sometime later, Alex joined the two of them. She was excited about Hera finishing the test, but she understood that it wasn't the best moment to talk about it after seeing her reaction.

Little by little, the rest of the party got to the hotel. Leo was the last one to arrive. He wanted to take a shower before heading out to eat. A bit after the sunset, they were already in a restaurant ordering their food.

As the waiter left, there was a moment of silence on the table. No one knew who would speak first. Both Leo and Blue were clearly worried about what they needed to say.

"Ok, since you are all quiet, let me start," to everyone's surprise, Bonnie was the one that broke the silence, "I've been reading a lot this past week. I can't say much about what I was working on because it was a quest from the order. However, I can share with you guys a bit of it."

The researcher sent a file to the group chat. They all went to check it. It was called 'Skills we should have.' The file contained a lengthy explanation of several skills and how to learn them, from improved perception to heat and cold resistances.

"The research I'm doing is about skills. Part of it was to go through the skills that the guild shares freely. There is a lot of stuff there like tasting, basic resistances, even fishing, and plowing."

Blue and Mark chuckled with the last name, "I mean. It's nice the Guild worries about teaching us some good plowing techniques," the controller said.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Would you grow up? The skill is about farming. Or preparing the ground to receive a seed," she barely finished speaking when she realized how that sounded. The whole table started laughing, "Fine, you perverts. I'll stop talking."

"No, Bonnie. C'mon, we are just joking. We really are interested in what you have to say," Alex was trying not to laugh too much and let the researcher talk.

"Just let me finish before making jokes."

Blue covered her mouth with her hands, doing her best not to laugh out loud, but tears were already forming in her eyes.

"Blue, stop that. It's rude not to let someone finish," Hera tried to help, but Blue only started laughing more, "Oh no. Is this contagious?"

"I think they might sell a salve for that in the drugstore," Mark said, joining in the laugh.

Bonnie slumped on the chair, "Just finish what you are doing so I can have my turn."

The table spent another ten minutes making bad puns, and even Bonnie gave up and joined in the jokes. A few tables around enjoyed the shenanigans while others were bothered by it. The group had to hold back not to disturb the other customers too much.

"Anyway, like I was saying. Try to get those skills. They are not hard to learn, and we can do it at any time. The benefits we can get in the long run are amazing, like heat resistance. It won't make us take less damage from a fire attack, but you can have a much easier time when we need to travel through a desert," Bonnie explained.

"So, this is not like fire or ice resistance?" Mark asked.

"Yes, but also no. We can get a minor effect when receiving damage. But those skills stack with other resistances. The heat resistance skill makes us 15% more resilient against hot weather, but it gives us only 1% of fire damage mitigation. According to my research, resistance skills cannot nullify a type of damage, just to make it less effective. Even if somehow we reach 100% resistance or even more than that."

"Got it, and those skills are just general things, right? Like for everyone. Did you find any skills that are useful for our classes?" Leo asked.

"I did, but if you want to know that information, you better be willing to pay for my services," Bonnie sat straight on the chair. Right now, Hera had the impression of talking to a business owner and not her friend. That change happened incredibly quickly.

"Seriously? You are charging for this?" Leo gasped.

"Of course. Nothing in life is free. Besides, information can save a life here," Bonnie reply was quick, almost as if she was already expecting that question.

"Damn, Bonnie. I thought we were friends," Leo stared at the researcher with his arms crossed.

"C'mon Leo, that's not fair. This is what her role does. Researchers find ways to make our lives easier. Saying she has to give that information for free is like telling me to make you a weapon without charging," Mark said while eating the mozzarella sticks they ordered for the table.

"He does have a point, Leo," Alex chimed in, "Besides, she already gave us a lot of information for free. I imagine it would take us ages to get all this on our own."

"Honestly, I'm more than happy to pay someone to do the book reading for me, unless it is a nice fantasy story," Blue turned to Bonnie, " How much for the information for our skills? I hope we still have the friends and family discount."

Bonnie was staring at the group with a surprised expression, "Now, I feel bad. You guys are being more supportive than I expected. I wasn't going to ask for money. A secondary part of the quest I have entails knowing how long it takes to get the skills and if something weird happens after you get them. I was just going to ask you guys to let me know about that."

Leo stared at Bonnie for a moment, "And you did that whole, business woman routine just to ask that?"

"Well, yeah... I mean, this was a job, so I just assumed you guys would be against it."

"Now I am," Leo huffed.

"You really didn't have to do all that," Alex said.

"Yeah, we would help you, regardless," Mark nodded.

"Honestly, no. After being all serious and making us defend you, now I'm only doing it if you give us the skills," Blue said, crossing her arms like Leo.

Hera laughed, " Yeah. We were already tense, don't make it worse."

"Hey, that is not on me. Those two are the ones who were being all serious." Bonnie pointed at Blue and Leo.

"Yeah, but I was just going to say that I'm going on a family vacation," Blue said.

Realizing that she had just revealed that she would abandon the group, the controller looked down and told everyone about the trip.

"Oh, that is all? It's not that serious. Just bring us some souvenirs," Alex said.

"Yeah, right. In two weeks, you guys are the ones who need to get me souvenirs," Blue took a bite of her steak.

"Well, this is actually close to what I wanted to talk about," Leo placed the knife and fork on his plate, "I've been recruited by a platoon. It's a thing from the Crimson Coalition. I've told you guys that it worked kind of like an army, right? Well, each high-ranking officer has their own legion. The legion is split into brigades and the brigades into..." Leo saw the faraway stares from the group, "Sorry, I know you guys don't care about that. What I mean is after I've been recruited, I was kind of a lone merc, and now a mid-level official recruited me for his platoon. That means that I'll have more responsibilities with the coalition and have to work in a group with them for a while. I'm still considered a recruit for them, and until I raise a couple of rankings, I don't have that much freedom."

Leo, who spent the entire time looking at his plate while he spoke, raised his eyes to look at the group, "Until I get that freedom, I'm going to stay with the coalition. I'm heading to the next layer on Monday. I know I'm a low level to be there, but we will be in a big group. And my squad leader is a level 10 healer. It should be enough to keep us alive."

There were a few moments of silence after Leo finished speaking. The group needed some time to process that.

"How long?" Hera asked, "How long do you think it will take before you get that freedom back?"

"I honestly don't know. My uncle got it in just a few weeks. For others, it can take months, even years. And look, when I say freedom, I don't mean like I'm going to be in a cell or something. I can still text, drink, go out at night. It's like a job. We work 5 to 6 days a week. Sometimes there is overtime, but most of the quest rewards will go to us, and we have holidays. It's like working in a research station or as a forest guard," Leo let out a long sigh, "I really like you guys, and it's not like I'm saying that we can never see each other again. But I have to do this. That is the only way I can hope to find my uncle."

Hera stared at the Hunter for a moment, "I get it. I mean, I understand, at least. And It's not like I'm not supporting you, Leo. But it's sad, you know. Blue is going on a trip. You are going to do your thing. It feels like that moment after graduation when you and your friends go their separate ways."

"I don't want to pile in, but I was talking to Bonnie yesterday, and apparently crafters and researchers don't need to hunt to get experience. If we do things related to our roles, we also can level up just fine. You guys know that I'm not much of a fighter," Mark scratched the back of his head.

Hera turned towards Bonnie, worried she might lose another two members of the group.

"Yeah, he is right. I thought I would be too behind if I didn't fight. And it's not like hunting didn't have its fun moments. Yet, I'd rather be doing my thing, finding new spells, and ways to use magic, than actually fighting for my life every day."

After yet another moment of silence, Alex looked around, "So this is it? We won't be a party anymore?"

"Don't say that. I very much expect to join you guys as soon as I'm back. It will be just a couple of weeks. At most, I'll be one level behind." Blue said before wiping a tear that was forming in the corner of her eye.

"Are you crying?" Bonnie asked.

"No! You are crying!" Blue replied.

The group finished their meals and left the restaurant. The lingering feeling of an ending was in the air around them.

Hera looked to the ceiling of the cave. There were so many things they still haven't done here. She stopped walking in the front of the group, still looking up, "We are all still here until Friday, right?" they all nodded, confirming that, "So what if we go to the frog valley? We bought the compendium, and Mark never went to a dungeon. It could be our farewell party for everyone."

"Well... going to a dungeon does seem fun. And you guys got some cool items there, right? I've finished the time I need to stay in the workshop for this month," Mark said.

"Yeah, I still hate frogs, and doing a whole dungeon related to them is not at the top of my list. But it could be fun," Alex nodded.

"You know, I do have some field research for the quest. It could help a lot," Bonnie looked through her tablet, already marking what she could do in the dungeon.

"Yeah, I want to fight something big before going on the trip," Blue slapped Hera's shoulder.

"So let's do it. We can get everything ready and head out tomorrow. If I recall it correctly, we could do a few runs on the dungeon. Well, if everyone is up for it," Leo said.

"Yeah, if we stay together long enough, we can get sick of each other by Friday. That way, we won't miss anyone," Blue joked.

They all stared at her for a moment.

"Yeah, let's leave her here. We can do it ourselves," Bonnie said, heading towards the inn. The rest of the group followed her, smiling but not saying a word.

"Hold up, guys. It was a joke, c'mon let me go too," Blue followed them while the rest laughed.