"Dude, crap, or get out of the toilet already!" Blue was tired of waiting for Hera to enter her test. They've been standing in front of the broken doorway that led to the dungeon for 20 minutes.

"I'm still not sure what role I should get," Hera replied.

"Didn't you decide that already? You said you don't like fighter, controller may not help, so hunter is what you're left with."

"Yeah, but controller makes sense for me. I mean, poison, paralyze, and even the psychic effect from the strap that's on my handaxe are all things that control the battlefield," Hera sighed.

"Oh, right, you still have that strap thing. I don't remember the last time that did anything."

"What strap?" Silah asked.

"This," Hera showed the purple strap dangling from the bottom of her handaxe, "It makes my attacks deal extra psychic damage, and after some attacks, it can even cause some debuffs like confusion, daze, and hallucinations."

"Oh, that seems helpful. But what did Blue meant?"

"Well, the last time any of those effects triggered was during the underground forest dungeon. The one where I took that picture you saw last night. Since then, we spent almost a month in other places, and the effects never triggered," Hera explained.

"Do you know why?"

"Take a look," Hera held out her handaxe, "It says that there is a damage threshold to trigger the effect. So I need to keep hitting a monster until it trigger, but most die before that happens," Hera was staring at the strap. There were some scratches on the silver ring, but the purple thread was still in perfect condition, just a bit dirty, "I think I need to wash this."

"You never washed it? It's a thread. You probably sweat a lot on top of it. The monsters dying before you can use that effect just means you are stronger than your enemy. That's good," Silah smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You are an all-powerful warrior that can't even decide her role, which, by the way, you can pick another later," Blue was tapping her foot.

"I know, but it's a big decision. I'm worried about picking the wrong one," Hera huffed.

"I'm leaving. It's seven in the morning, and I'm still sleepy," Blue turned around.

"You didn't have to come. I told you I was fine coming alone."

"Oh, forgive me for caring about you."

"What's to care? Nothing bad will happen in the city. Don't you see how nice these people are?"

"I'm not talking about that. I'm worried you won't come back. Last time you almost got eaten by a shark!," Blue yelled.

"No, I didn't. "

"You told me you did," Blue stared Hera down.

"No, I told you I got bitten by sharks, and giant centipedes, and snakes and mauled by a gorilla. But nothing there could kill me. You can't die during the tests. It just hurts like hell, but the only danger is for my mental health," Hera explained.

"Seriously? I was worried for nothing?" Blue asked.

"Seems like it. Why didn't you ask me about that?"

"You already were freaking out. I didn't want to make this worse."

"Yeah, cause this is helping a lot," Hera rolled her eyes.

"Both of you, stop!" Silah stepped in, "Blue, I'm sure you are just frustrated with this whole thing. Hera, can't you be a bit more understanding? Your friend was worried about you."

Hera took a deep breath, "You're right. Sorry, it's just that ever since we got here, things simply stopped working out. Well, aside from meeting you," Hera turned to Blue, "Sorry, and thanks for worrying about me."

"It's fine, and sorry too. I thought this would be much more dangerous, and I'm grumpy when I wake up too early," Blue replied.

"Ok, now hug to make peace," Silah received annoyed looks from both humans and started laughing, "Sorry, my mom used to say that to me. It helps to break the tension thought. Anyway, did you pick what test you are going to do?"

"I'll go with hunter. I can take controller later if I still want to."

"Are you doing that just because I annoyed you?" Blue asked.

Hera smiled, "I kind of want to say yes, but no. I remember what you told me about your test. You had to change the layout of an area and stop some monsters from going through, right?"

"Yeah, I just started breaking everything and digging around the area. It took me almost a week, but it worked."

"You… dug?" Silah asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I mean, the controllers that I know used taunts, spells and changed the area by using water and stacking rocks. I never heard about someone digging with their bare hands," Silah looked impressed.

"Yeah, so. I have only a day. If I was going to follow what you did, I'm screwed. What Leo did during his test, on the other hand, seems more doable. He had to learn about monsters and answer some questions. I always liked to study animals."

"That's true. You got a bit crazy during shark week," Blue nodded.

Hera turned around to the broken gateway and touched it again.

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

Role quest identified.

Select the role test you wish to challenge

[Controller] [Fighter] [Hunter]

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

"I'm going then, guys. Thanks for coming here with me," Hera looked back.

"Of course I would come," Silah smiled and held Hera's hand after making sure no one was around.

"Same, be careful, and I see you tomorrow," Blue replied.

"You too. Oh, and explain to Silah what's shark week, please?"

Blue nodded, and Hera pressed the hunter button. She expected the familiar feeling of being soaked in hot water, but a cold sensation covered her body. It was like jumping in a pool in the middle of winter. Simultaneously, small streams of scalding hot water hit her in different places, but the heat was quickly replaced by the cold as the jets vanished. After what felt like an eternity, the feeling stopped, and she was 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 only painted on the wall.

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

Explorer's Quest – Hunter Skill

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

Learn the habit, personalities, and weaknesses of the monsters in the enclosures. While you watch them, questions and tasks will show up periodically. If you fail one, you will be sent back to the reception of the room.

Rewards:

Hunter role skill

????????????

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

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

"Yeah, still have to do a perfect run," Hera sighed.

"What, expected things to be easier now that you leveled up?" A deep voice came from a green apple on top of the reception desk.

"Peaches!" Hera rushed over.

"Hey, kid. How are you?"

"Kind of a mess, actually. I got stuck in a room with no way out."

"I heard. Thanks for that, by the way. Capri is unbearable ever since you called him," Peaches sighed.

"How so?"

"It's a guide thing. We celebrate our workday. It's like you celebrate a birthday, but instead of being the day we were born is the day we were first called to our room. He didn't have one because no one ever called him."

"That's so sad. So there are guides out there who never had birthdays?" Hera asked.

"Yeah, but not really. The ones who haven't been called get a party once a year."

"Wait, didn't you say they didn't have birthdays?"

"Not a birthday party. It's a party for all of them at once. It gets big, really big."

"Wow, I can imagine. It's a party for how many?"

Peaches smiled, "Nice try, kid. I'm not gonna talk about other guides."

Hera chuckled, "Well, you seemed so chatty today. I thought I could get something out of you."

"Fair enough. Maybe if you have some extra time here, we can talk," Peaches turned to the screens, "Want me to play the video?"

"One thing first. Can I ask you to send a message to someone?" Hera asked.

"Who?"

"Anyone doing the explorer's test."

"Can't do that, kid. If it was a guide, that's fine. But we can't work as pigeons to deliver messages," Peaches shook his head.

"It's ok. I knew it was a long shot. I just want to let my friends know that I'm alive."

"I understand. Sorry, I can't help."

Hera rubbed her eyes. Despite knowing that it was very unlikely that this idea would work, she still felt sad about it.

"Sorry, it's been tough," Hera said.

"Don't worry. I understand how you feel. Do you need some water?" Peaches moved its body, pointing towards the bedroom and kitchen that was behind the reception desk.

"No, no. I'm ok. So, can we start the test?"

"Sure, kid."

As Peaches finished speaking, the monitors all turned on. The same room they were in appeared on the screens, with the white wall, monitors, and the door on the other side. A humanoid silhouette was standing in the middle of the room. It walked towards the door and exited into a long hallway filled with black tinted windows. There was a holographic plaque with some question marks under each window, and between them, there was a different colored door. The figure walked over to the first door, which was blue, and entered. Hera half expected to be an enclosure like that of a zoo, but it was much similar to the assassin's test, where it was like going through a portal to a different room. It showed a forest and another three shadows that were clearly monsters. The silhouette started chasing them, with the video now going into a time-lapse. It showed the figure observing the creatures, and, at times, a notification appeared in front of it. Following that, the humanoid would either change locations or prepare some traps. After some time, it left the room and touched the black window. Several windows appeared, much like the one from her map, and the figure started moving its arms, pulling something from one window and placing it in another. When it was done, the large plaque changed, and now several words appeared. It was almost like seeing one of those information signs that one would see in the zoo.

The screens turned black and now showed Peaches and Hera's reflection.

"So… that's it? That's all the explanation I get?" Hera asked.

Peaches sighed, "I feel bad for who has to figure things out with this alone."

"Same, it makes sense that it gets harder if the explanation is this crappy. I have no clue what I'm supposed to do."

"Let me clear it up for you. Outside this room, you'll find that hallway. Behind each door is a different biome. You have to go inside and find the target monster," Peaches explained.

"The target monster? So there is more than one type inside each room?" Hera asked.

"In some, yeah. How many, that's up to you to figure out."

"Ok, how do I know if I got the right one?"

"A notification will pop up. It will give you a new task. Things like, figure out what they eat or where do they live. After a while, you will get more active things such as, making a trap or lure one away. When you finish the last task, you have to come back out and place what you've learned in the plaque in front of the window. Then you do that three more times," Peaches explained.

"Just three? This one doesn't have a secret stage after it?"

Peaches shrugged, "That's for you to find out."

"Ok then. I guess I should get started then."

"The clock is already ticking. You have 23 hours and 43 minutes."

Hera smiled at the guide and opened the door, but before taking a step into the corridor, she turned back, "I forgot a few things. First, do I have to do this in a specific order?"

"Not really, and the difficulty is random. Or, at least, what's behind each door is random. The first might be the worst one and the last the easiest."

"Ok, can I come out if I'm tired or something?"

"Yeah, just come back to the door. Since you have the map skill, it will be easy to find."

"What if I fail the tasks?"

"You can't fail the tasks inside the rooms, but if you make a mistake in the plaque, you will have to go through the biome again."

"Oh, well, that's easy. I just go in and do the same things again."

"That would be true if the monsters inside stayed the same," Peaches smirked.

"They change?" Hera gasped.

"Of course, kid. During the assassin's test, any mistakes would make you fall back to the beginning. Did you really think this would be more forgiving?"

"It already seems like it is. I mean, if I make a mistake in one, I don't have to redo any of the others that I've already completed, right?"

"True, but if you fail, the next set of monsters will be stronger."

Hera looked back to the corridor, "Last question. Can I die here?"

"No, don't worry. You are safe, but you won't come back here if you get hit, unlike the assassin's test. That only happens if you are about to be killed," Peaches said.

"OK… but if I get seriously hurt, what happens?"

"Just like if you are about to be killed, if you are about to bleed out or something, you come here, and that room is considered a failure. If you walk out through the door and enter this reception, your wound will close up in an instant."

"Really?" Hera looked back at her handaxe. She knew that some people would hurt themselves to get some resistance skills. This might be a good place to do that.

"I know that look, kid. No, you can't use this place to get new skills. During the tests, you can't learn new skills or increase their ranks. You can't even make progress towards that. If you are to get a new skill, it's going to be a reward from the test, and that's it."

Hera nodded. The system wouldn't allow anyone to cheat like that. She turned around and walked over to the first door. Since the difficulty was random, there was no reason to be picky, "Well, I'm off. Wish me luck."

"I won't. Don't worry. You got this, kid," Peaches winked just before Hera opened the door to the first biome.