MAZE - The Endless Quest

"Honestly, how can anyone like that?" Blue brushed her tongue with a candy bar.

"You could have gotten something else, you know, they had Ramen and Yakisoba," said Alex.

"Don't even bother, Alex. it's a refined taste. I wouldn't expect a troglodyte would understand." Bonnie chimed in.

"That's rich coming from someone who looked like she was falling the whole time. It amazes me how you can even walk without face planting in the ground," Blue replied with a sharp tone.

"At least I didn't look like a dog with my tongue sticking out." Bonnie turned her head towards Blue. "And I have the decency of eating my food, not doing whatever you are trying to do."

"I'm removing the awful taste of fish from my mouth. Some of us care about having bad breath." Blue rolled her eyes.

"Are you implying I have bad breath?" Bonnie was staring daggers at the girl.

"Not implying, I'm straight up telling you. Toothbrush, ever heard of it?"

"You little..."

Alex, Leo, and Hera walked behind the two girls watching the fight.

"Soo... when did that start?" Alex asked, looking towards Hera.

"I can't say for sure. But I think it was around the second hour of running. They teased each other a bit, but it turned into... well... that." Pointing at the girls, Hera gave a soft smile.

"I'm kind of sad I missed it."

Alex realized that by not having to do the punishment, she lost a chance to be closer to her friends.

"Don't worry about it. Mr. Greyson is worse than my teacher. You will have many other chances. Just picturing it makes me shiver, " Leo said while hugging himself.

"At least you guys know what to expect. If I fail, it will be my first time." Alex said.

Hera stared at Alex.

"Please, tell me you're being sarcastic right now. If you are serious, I can't even look at you." Hera said.

Alex replied with a smirk. In sync, both Leo and Hera rolled their eyes.

"Fine, Then I bet I can beat your score today! The loser buys the winner lunch tomorrow," Blue yelled. The fight was still going on, apparently.

"Deal!" Bonnie said, before putting out her hand.

The girls shook on it and kept arguing.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were sisters."

As soon as Leo finished his sentence, Bonnie turned around.

"Don't you dare say I'm related to this primate!"

With a big grin on her face, Blue started taunting the girl.

"Ha! Little miss Big Brain doesn't even realize that she is also a primate."

"Of course I know, you buffoon!"

"You only know because I just told you."

"I knew it before you said anything."

The duo kept going. The three in the back were hardly believing in the scene.

"This really looks like a middle school fight doesn't it?" Leo was flabbergasted. He could see this behavior coming from Blue, but not from Bonnie.

"Yeah, it's kind of amazing." Alex was staring at them as if she saw a pair of dolphins in the middle of the city.

"Yeah, but Bonnie was wrong," Hera said.

Hearing that, Bonnie spun around and fixed her eyes on Hera.

"And why, pray tell, I was wrong?"

Hera was taken aback, she wasn't expecting the girl to listen to her ramblings. Looking down, she replied in a weak voice.

"Well... troglodytes didn't have tools, right? They probably ate the fish they catch raw."

Her sentence was followed by a long silence. The whole group staring at Hera. The longer it took for anyone to reply, the more Hera felt uncomfortable, was what she said that stupid?

With a resounding laughter, Blue was the first one to break the ice.

"Oh my lord, Hera, only you would take this so seriously."

The rest of the group joined laughing, and even Hera gave a weak smile.

"Sorry, my mind just goes there," Hera said.

"Don't worry, and you are right. At the time Troglodytes were around they used very basic tools, they probably didn't have fire," trying to help the girl, Bonnie expanded on her thoughts," you don't need to say sorry. After all, you also made me win a free lunch."

"Oh, you think you can beat me?"

Blue was just about to start arguing again when Leo jumped between the two of them.

"Ok, you two already had enough for today. No more fighting. leave that energy for the training, please. I don't think I have medicine for the migraine you are giving me."

"I have some aspirin if you need."

The second Hera finished talking, the group looked back at her with shocked expressions.

"I know that one was a joke. I'm just saying if any of you have a headache I have some aspirin okay?" That annoyed Hera a bit, she wasn't that thick.

"That's good. If even that one went over your head I would be worried." Alex teased the girl.

"Just because they stopped fighting you want to start?" replied Hera with a playful smile.

Leo and Blue started to chant, "Fight, Fight, Fight."

Laughing, the group went back to the Guild.

In a bit over ten minutes, Hera was already in the training room ready to start. For some reason, it felt natural to work out after lunch. Today, however, there was a difference. The teacher wasn't here yet.

Hera looked around and saw Mr. Greyson talking to Helena. Unlike the way he spoke to the recruits, he seemed more carefree around her. It made sense, after all, it was hard not to be feel comfortable around Helena.

Staring at the clerk, Hera activated her skill [Inspect]

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Helena - Human - Mage

32 years - Level 18

A mage who decided to come back home after staying inside the MAZE for a long time. Friendly and outgoing, she does her best to help others.

Can't cook.

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Hera frowned. It only showed the information she knew. Could it be because Helena was from the guild? At the sushi place, she was able to see the name, job, and even some information about the clothes of the waiter.

Looking at the screen, Hera noticed that even the picture that was supposed to be there was missing. Pondering if her skill was too weak or if the difference in levels was affecting the result, Hera didn't notice when Helena approached her.

"Hello sweetie, how are you today?" coming back from her daze, Hera gave a soft smile towards the mage.

"Hi, Helena, I'm o... I'm good, and you?"

Helena winked at the recruit. "Good to see you're learning! I'm fine, I just had some trouble sleeping, but it was my fault for eating a greasy burger just before going bed," she giggled.

Hera smiled back, she knew Helena was a terrible cook, but maybe her eating habits were also a problem.

"So, whatcha doin'?" Helena had an odd smile on her face.

"I'm waiting for class to start..." Hera stared at the mage, the way she asked felt weird.

"Is that all? You didn't try to inspect me just now?"

Hera's eyes went wide. How did she know?

"I... I did..." Hera looked away, for some reason it felt like she was doing something wrong, "I'm sorry."

Helena let out a sigh. "It's ok. By the looks of this, Calvin forgot to tell you guys to be careful when inspecting people. Many skills and items can show you when someone is being nosy. It is also considered rude to inspect someone without them knowing."

Hera nodded, the last thing she wanted to do was to be rude to Helena or anyone else.

"It won't happen again, I promise."

Helena patted Hera on the back, "Don't make promises you are not able to keep. Inside the MAZE it is common for explorers to inspect each other. We are just more sneaky about it."

Not being sure of what Helena meant by that, Hera had a puzzled expression on her face.

"Ok, I know that look. Since your teacher is going to be back soon, you can ask only one question about this." Helena gave Hera a playful smile. She enjoyed seeing the recruit learn, it reminded her of when she was just getting to know how the MAZE worked.

Hera stared at the woman in front of her. There was so much she wanted to ask. How could she tell she was being inspected? Why would explorers hide when they are inspecting each other. Why the information that the skill gives seems limited at times? How can I improve the skill? Why is she so nice to me?

Considering her options, Hera realized that there was only one question she absolutely needed to ask.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

Helena was taken aback, she would never guess Hera would use her question like that. With a big smile, she hugged the recruit.

"You are too sweet you know that? There are many things you can help me with, but for now, focus on the training. I promise that when you are a full-fledged explorer, I'm asking you a bunch of favors."

Hera hugged back, even if she wasn't fond of physical contact. Helena had a calming aura around her.

"Ok, now I need to go. And your teacher seems to be ready for class. Good luck! Try not to break anything."

With that advice, Helena left the training room. Not a minute later, Mr. Greyson showed up dragging a blue box that was bigger than the ones he brought in the days before.

"Today, yer not swinging at a target. Today ye all will be the dummy."

The teacher opened the box, revealing its contents. Inside of it, there were various sets of protective gear, along with shields and even some longsword scabbards.

"Each of ye come here and pick a set of armor and one shield of each type."

Mark sheepishly raised his hand.

"Mr. Greyson, why there are scabbards there? Are they considered shields?"

With an approving nod, the teacher explained.

"Aye, there are many ways to defend from attacks. I want ye all to experiment with this and figure out what ye like. Some may already know, but it doesn't hurt to try new things."

He said the last line staring directly at Blue, who had a big smile on her face.

The recruits grabbed the gear and started to wear the armor. It was a complicated task. The body armor resembled what knights would wear. Alex and Hera were helping each other to strap on a few pieces of the gear.

To their side, Blue geared up extremely quickly. She was so giddy that she was jumping in place.

"What's gotten into you?" Leo asked, he already was used to this type of gear. Although he wasn't as proficient as Blue in putting it on.

"Nothing, it just seems I got my free lunch," she said while looking at Bonnie.

Bonnie looked at her confused when it dawned on her.

There was no way she could beat Blue's score today.