Hera couldn't tell how long she spent crying with Chika. She wasn't even aware of the emotions that she was feeling herself. The pain that Chika was feeling still overwhelmed her. The snake was just there, coiled around Hera and letting her head rest on the explorer's shoulder. When she finally pulled back, Hera took a moment to check on Chika's belly. If all the blood was really from the snake, it was likely that her belly was in a very bad shape. Surprisingly that wasn't the case. In fact, her underside was almost completely fine, even more sturdy than before. The scales on her back seemed even softer than those on her belly. The only difference was that the scales that kept grinding against the floor had a slight red tint near the base.

Trying to help the snake to calm down, Hera pulled her water bottle and gave some for Chika to drink. The snake obliged, but her reaction felt mechanical. Not in a way that meant she wasn't actually Chika, but as if she had lost the will to live and was just doing as she was told. A few more minutes passed, and Hera felt her stomach rumbling. Hearing that, the snake started to move again. She headed forward in the abyss and then turned back to the human, almost asking for her to follow. Hera did so, and Chika guided her back to the underground alcove where they had slept during the last days. There was still a bag of supplies that allowed the human to make some food for them and top up her water bottle.

Chika wasn't doing much aside from being by Hera's side, and after they finished eating, the snake went towards the tunnel. The snake seemed to be too big to fit on the passage now. Not so much because of the height but because her head and body were too wide. To make things worse, there were points where the path became even tighter. However, when Chika got closer to that area, she seemed to get smaller. Hera followed the sacred beast, and the more they walked in the tunnel, the smaller the snake became. About halfway through the passage, Chika was back at her small form from the first day, but her green eye that only appeared after Darni's ritual was still there. In addition to that, she was back to her previous playfully self. Running around Hera. Climbing up on her and coming to rest on the human's shoulder while, at times, trying to lick her ear to play.

When they finally reached outside, the temple was directly outside the tunnel, which was odd since it wasn't supposed to be like that. Right in front of the temple Darni and the others were looking towards her.

"Hey, new blood. Thanks for hanging out with her. Hope you didn't have any problems," Darni gave Hera a big smile.

"It was OK? What about the invasion? Are you guys OK?" Hera asked.

"What invasion? Are you feeling alright?" Asher replied.

"I am, but Casks said that there was an invasion and that Chika wouldn't be able to help," Hera tried to explain before realizing that the Naga were dressed the same way they were during those days. This should be just s way for the dungeon to end.

"I think you had a bad dream. I'm glad that you two were relaxed enough to take a nap," Casks chuckled.

Chika had already jumped from Hera's shoulder and moved towards Darni, "So, as a thanks for everything you did here. Let us give you a gift. Each of us made something that we think you might like," the enchanter said as they all pulled their gifts.

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You have completed the dungeon quest.

You have stayed with Chika through her entire journey.

Rewards: 80 000 gold, +1 level

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You have leveled up.

Current level 20

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Please select one of the items offered by the Naga.

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"I made you a weapon. I saw how you weren't that comfortable with the one you are using. This scimitar will never lose its edge and has a very strong mana conductivity" Naph showed a curved sword with glittering web-like patterns all around it. Hera tried to use her [Inspect], but it didn't work. Probably because the system was blocking that information until she picked the reward.

"My gift is this," Asher pulled a single scroll, "It's a scroll that teaches you one of my signature spells. A spell circle that works as an explosion trap that you can put virtually anywhere and even imbue the spell with different elemental effects. I put them into small rocks and other random assortment of items and toss them towards the monsters to clear out any threats."

"If you want something a bit less… destructive," Casks pulled a dark cowl covered in stars made with golden thread, "This will protect and strengthen you when you are under starlight. When you are in the presence of one of the constellations represented in the mantle, the effects are even stronger."

"Lastly. Mine is more sentimental," Darni pulled a small necklace. It had a simple black chain with a single silver scale with a small green dot on the tip as a pendant, "This is one of Chika's scales. I didn't hurt her, don't worry. I picked this up the last time she molted and enchanted it so it can summon a snake construct. It can attack, and you can give simple orders, and you can even call it just when you are feeling lonely. It's not like being beside Chika, but I feel like this was something you might enjoy."

Hera stared at the necklace for a moment. She had no idea how a snake scale could look like a dragon's scale, or at least how she pictured one. After taking a moment to analyze everything she realized that Darni's seemed like the least exciting of all rewards. If the construct was anything like her mount, it would have very limited use and not being able to look into all the details was a big issue.

Asher's offer was interesting, but at the same time, now she had the idea of making traps like that, and she could try to figure it out on her own. Naph's was also exciting, but it was a scimitar and not a handaxe like she was used to. That left Casks' cowl. It should give a conditional passive, but the main issue was if the system would consider the sun as a star. It would be rare for her to use the item to its fullest if it didn't since she wasn't that keen on fighting in the middle of the night. Glancing at Rris, Hera found it weird how the green Naga didn't offer anything.

Almost as if he was reading her mind, Rris sighed, "Sorry, new blood. Everything I could give you would take some time to teach, and I can't actually do it right now. Maybe later."

Hera nodded and looked back to the other rewards. Despite her initial thought, Darni's seemed to be the truly unique one of the bunch. Not to mention, he was the Naga hero and had a legacy. There was a high chance that the reward would be more powerful than she expected. Looking a Chika, happily nuzzling with Darni, Hera almost felt a cold space on her shoulder. In the end, having a construct, even if it was just to keep her some company, could help a lot. It's been a while since she did something alone, but not being completely alone when that happened would be amazing.

"I'll take the necklace you made, Darni," Hera replied after deciding.

Darni smiled and gave the item to her. This time, when she tried to [Inspect], the skill triggered.

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Darni's gift - Very Rare

A necklace made by Darni, the old Naga hero. He enchanted the item with the essence of a sacred beast, creating a snake mana construct that can perform simple tasks and will enable the wearer to use spells through it as long as they are within a set distance.

You can call the construct by putting mana inside the necklace.

The snake can move at 4km/h and carry up to 10kg.

You can cast spells through the snake at a distance of 300 meters.

The snake can attack as you command. The strength of the attack will depend on the mana spent for the action.

If the snake is destroyed, it takes 24 hours to recover. If the snake attempts to perform an action that requires mana while it has none, it will be destroyed.

Stored mana 0 / 20 000

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Hera wasn't expecting something like that. Even if it didn't seem all that exciting at first, the ability to cast spells at a distance of 300 meters was massive, and being able to store some mana in the snake itself was like having another mana stone. The whole attack depending on the mana, could also be interesting. Hera even wondered if the construct would be considered a weapon, and causing it to spend all its mana in an attack wouldn't trigger her [Weapon Break] skill, but that seemed like a stretch.

She looked back at the Naga, who were all smiling. It was like a happy picture of a family or a group of friends in this case. Hera looked around, but she didn't see any obvious ways to leave the dungeon, "So... Can you guys tell me how I get out of here?"

"Sure, just go to the tunnel that brought you here. There you will find a way to go back home," Darni replied.

Hera thanked him, and they all waved at her. Chika was even waving her tail as the human returned to the tunnel. Hera walked back down for just a few seconds when it turned to the left, spiraling around until it was facing the same direction from where she entered. The tunnel stopped being sloped, and Hera could see the outside once again. When she left the path, she was back in the valley. She quickly pulled her tablet to check the map and realized that she was in King's Row, beyond the temple. Looking back, Hera also saw that the path she just came from was just a small crevasse in the valley and that it was caved in. If she hadn't just walked out of that place, she would never imagine that this area was an actual passage and not just another piece of the wall.

While looking at all that, several messages came through on her tablet. She opened them and replied to every one of them, first letting Blue and the others know that she was OK and asking about where they were. Then for Silah, Helena, and Bonnie. Another one from Fethy asked her about the crest she got from Finlay. Lastly, there were a few messages from her dad.

The first was him just checking up on her and letting her know that grandma Triss had a doctor's appointment that day. This happened on the same day that Hera fell and was saved by Chika. On the same day, close to the evening, he sent another text letting Hera know that her grandmother would have to undergo emergency surgery. She was having trouble using the bathroom for a while, and it's been a few days since she managed to poop. Just to be safe, the doctor ordered a couple of exams that revealed that a small part of her colon was heavily damaged, and if it wasn't removed, it could end up resulting in necrosis. Eridan asked if Hera could help him pay for the surgery in the next text, but the following one had him thanking her for being an explorer. Because she already had a silver card, the guild would take care of her medical bill and even send in a healer to help with the procedure.

There was an audio file after that, but before Hera could hear it, she read the last text.

'There were some complications during the surgery. Your grandma didn't make it. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to save her.'

Hera felt the tears filling her eyes. It's been just four days, maybe five at most. How could that have happened? Why? There was even a healer there! What could've happened during the surgery? Hoping that the audio was her dad or a doctor explaining the procedure or something that would allow this to make sense, Hera pressed play. However, what she heard was her grandma's voice instead.

"Is it recording?" Triss asked.

"Yeah. Do you see that green microphone? It means it is recording, mom. Tap the red square when you want to stop," Eridan chuckled.

The sound of a hand slapping someone came through, "Stop laughing at your mother! I'm not that used to those things."

"No one would believe that you are just about to have surgery," Eridan snickered.

"Tell me about it. Imagine if I end up dying because I can't take a dump," Triss laughed.

"Mom…" Eridan's voice became softer.

"Don't make that face. I'm just kidding. You heard what the doctor said. This should be a routine thing. Anyway, I can start talking, right?"

"Right."

"OK then," grandma Triss cleared her throat, "Hera, my sweet grandchild. Your father already told you everything about the surgery, and don't worry, everything will be fine. But, I don't want to risk doing the same that your grandfather did to me. If the last words you ever heard me say were 'The fucking ass sniffing dog was after my ass,' it would be a weird way to remember me by, to say the least," Eridan's laughter could be heard in the background. "Anyway. Just in case, I'm leaving you this message. You are the biggest treasure of my life. Well, the second biggest after your father, but he only gets a leg up because he brought you into this world. You are smart, brave, beautiful, and the most amazing person I have ever met in my entire life. Never change and never let the world break that beautiful heart of yours again. After the surgery, we are going to have a party, and you have to be there. I love you with all my heart, my dear, never forget that. Lastly, The fucking ass sniffing dog was after my ass, and after all those dance lessons, my ass is as sweet as it was when I was in my twenties."

Hera chuckled with the ending of the message and wiped the tears from her eyes. She still was in a dangerous place and had to come back at least to the archaeologist camp on her own. This wasn't the place to let her feelings get the better of her.