Hera talked with everyone in the party about her plans. She wanted to go back to the tomb where they found the scrolls, but neither Bonnie nor Helena were too keen on going back there. Helena was trying to get back to her research on affinities. She talked with Rutigan and Ogryn, asking permission to bring some of her equipment to the city, and they agreed with that. In fact, the dwarves were excited about the idea of seeing how humans develop their magic. Another big point was that since Bonnie had figured out a way to make the modular elemental spells, Helena could now take things one step further and try to make equipment that could work as an 'elemental translator' something that could make a fire spell become a water spell.

For the first time, Helena explained to Hera what was her ultimate goal with her research. Helena always wanted to be something she called a 'Ying Yang' mage. Someone who controlled both the shadows and the light, and when she got stuck with shadow mana, that dream was taken away from her. She tried to ignore that and keep going as a shadow mage, but most of her offensive spells were from the light element, and using shadow mana for that was very inefficient. As a result, she ended up focusing on being a supporter and a debuffer, and she didn't enjoy that, despite being very good at it. With her research, the goal was to create something that would allow her to either change her own mana to fix her mistake or something that could allow her to use other elements without worrying. This started as something she wanted to do just for herself, but Helena realized that many people had the same issue as time went by. Even if it wasn't about a dream they had, mages who specialized in a single element always had trouble fighting something with a high resistance to that element. Sure, one could just avoid those fights, but in situations when that wasn't an option, having spells from another element could be the difference between life and death.

Now that Hera and Blue were back, Helena no longer had the parasites stopping her from recovering mana, and she had participated in some tomb hunting. It felt like it was a good idea to go back to her research.

Bonnie also wanted to stay in Boothudurn. She wanted to keep searching for where the Astral Witch could be. Hera could tell that there was more to that. At first, Bonnie seemed interested in finding more about the tamer, but the moment a trip to the Wailing Valley came up, the researcher jumped ship. It was clear that she had no intention of going there again. She didn't say anything, but sleeping on the ground and having to eat monster meat wasn't something she was keen on doing again.

Silah also didn't want to join, not that she wasn't worried about Hera going there, but it's been just a few days since they returned to Boothudurn. The blacksmith missed her family too much, and all that adventure was more than she ever bargained for. Even if Silah was desperate to find something new to do, spending days or weeks away from her family wasn't something she enjoyed doing. Maybe in the future, that could change, but for now, all she wanted was to be close to them.

Hera understood that even if she wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea of being away from Silah. Still, it was a good thing to spend some time apart. Sure, they were sating for half a year already, but that didn't mean that they couldn't stay away from each other. Silah seemed to agree with her even if the concept of staying in a different room was still somewhat new for the blacksmith.

On the other hand, Blue, Alex, and Leo were all game for going to the Wailing Valley, as long as they didn't have to rush through all the rooms like they did before. Shane was in a bit of a hurry, but Blue was curious about the dungeons that could be in the Cold Water Lake. For some reason, the controller was very interested in the penguins. Alex was also curious about the spirits in the Forest of Dreams and the type of dungeon or resources they could find there. Leo didn't know what to expect, but it's been such a long time since he could just roam around the MAZE for fun, or at least without having to stick to a set schedule.

Hera asked everyone to wait a couple of days, to both give everyone some time to rest, and so that the two mana crystals that she ordered could arrive. Everyone else also took a chance to see if they could get some upgrades for their equipment. Now that they had an idea what to expect on deeper layers and Blue had access to stores, they could spend some money on that. Hera even tried to look up some better equipment and even ask Silah to make something for her, but according to the blacksmith, anything she could make wouldn't be better than what Kahala did for her armor a few months ago. The issue was Hera's level. Most of what Silah could do that was really strong had a level restriction. Sure, Hera could still wear it, but the extra benefits, bonuses, and skills wouldn't be active. The one thing that made Hera feel better about this is that not knowing about those restrictions was a common thing. Many guards and even explorers from the guild only figured out about level locked equipment when it became relevant for them. In a weird way, the way this knowledge was shared was much like what the system did. Only showing to someone when the information could have some value.

During the days they waited, Hera and Alex tried to learn the fighting style that the yellow naga showed to them. They rented a training room to have an edge but trying to follow along with a creature that didn't have legs made learning the movements much more complicated than either of them thought it would be. The naga moved in ways that didn't seem possible for someone with legs to move around. Another thing everyone did was to stop by the newly created stable and check up on Tiger. It's been a long time since they had seen the frog, and it would be best for it to get used to the rest of the group before they headed out.

As soon as they all gathered on the stable, Blue gasped, "Holy crap, Leo. What are you feeding that thing?"

Tiger was massive. He was easily 2 meters tall and as wide as a small car, but his face was still the same. Now he didn't look more like just a pet. The frog was a full-blown monster.

"Believe it or not, but I didn't feed him anything special. It seems like living in a room with denser mana made it grow to that size. Apparently, it's not unusual for monsters that people tame to change when they spend a lot of time in a different room," Leo explained.

"Oh… I never realized that mana could be denser in other rooms. Then again, I'm not that sensitive to mana, I think. Also, how did you make it move to another room with you? Was it a skill, or do you need a tool or something?" Hera asked.

"A bit of both, actually. When I left Brinnefront, I had to use a small cage that made the system see Tiger as luggage. Now he has those bracelets on his legs that are kind of like a collar, and I have a skill that lets me bring him with me. The issue is that the skill has a level range, so even if I tame a high-level monster, I can't make it move to a different room."

"I'm kind of relieved to hear that. If people could bring high-level monsters to low-level rooms, it might be dangerous. Wasn't that one of the things that caused the great invasion?" Alex started petting Tiger now that he already had recognized her.

"Sort of. There were like thousands of monsters crossing, and they weren't tamed. My guess is that monsters can cross doorways without any issue, but since they don't understand the system, they can't actually press the yes button," Hera said.

"Wouldn't the system translate that to monsters?" Blue asked.

"Would it? All the references we ever found about the system from other cultures or even ancient civilizations talk about the windows having writing on them," Hera continued.

"Yeah, but what about kids? They don't necessarily know how to read, but they can still understand the system," Alex was giving Tiger, who laid on his side, a belly rub.

"That's true, but they can understand the concept of a choice or of someone asking you a question. I don't think monsters can do the same," Hera replied while scratching her head.

"Some monsters are much smarter than kids. I assure you of that," Leo was picking some food for Tiger.

"Well, that was just a theory. I mean, there should be a reason why monsters don't cross doorways, because if they can, why wouldn't they cross more? Especially if going to a deeper layer made them stronger," Hera continued.

"I mean, that's as good as any idea I ever had," Blue shrugged.

"We'll have time to workshop some theories while we are going to the… Screaming Valley?" Leo turned to Hera.

"Wailing Valley. Yeah, and it's not like we are supposed to figure out those kinds of things, but it's kind of fun to come up with reasons," Hera shrugged.

"You and I have very different definitions of fun," Blue rolled her eyes.

The group talked and agreed to head to the Wailing Valley tomorrow. Everyone had gotten all their new gear and some items to help the travel. Some rope, rations, incense to ward off monsters, and some potions to help heal wounds or anything. Another thing they got was a set of one-use spells to open the entrance of the tomb. They came in various shapes and sizes, from simple things like a gold coin that could give a defensive buff or a small iron rod that would be consumed to fuel an illusion spell. There was even a small bundle of herbs that could benefit the soil, causing plants to grow faster. Hera never looked too much into consumable items, but they seemed very interesting. She had to remember to take a look at everything she could get when she had time.

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

Mana storage - Bracelet

A mass-produced bracelet created to store mana.

Mana 30 000/30 000

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

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

Mana storage - Earring

A mass-produced pair of earrings created to store mana.

Left Earring Mana: 5 000/5 000

Right Earring Mana: 5 000/5 000

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

With those items, Hera had almost 10 times more mana than her normal amount of mana. It was amazing to think that she could get items like that, but at the same time, if it wasn't for the months she spent on Boothudurn, there was no way that she could save enough to get that type of item.

Another unexpected but welcomed surprise happened while Hera was trying to translate the letter about the tamer.

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

Skill acquired: Ancient Language Comprehension.

Rank:2

This skill assists you in understanding ancient languages. You might still require a dictionary, but the skill makes finding the correct meaning of each sentence easier.

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

With all those upgrades, including a skill that came to her already at rank 2, the group headed out of Boothudurn and back to the White Desert. Tiger caused some trouble at first, but thanks to Hera and Leo's natural charisma, the guard agreed to release the creature to the man and allow him to travel to a new room while passing through the city.