Blue's farewell party ended up being much larger than Hera or her friends wanted. At first, it was just a small gathering in one of the larger empty buildings just for the Royal Explorers and the guards. However, once word started to spread, an entire street was closed off for the festivities. Blue groaned a lot, but she enjoyed all the attention. The party itself was great, even if it was something slapped together in just a couple of days. They had music, dancing, a lot of booze, and even a small play about Hera and Blue coming to the room and saving the city from the grasp of the evil Sky Ruler and its minions. It was a very exaggerated portrait of them, but it showed their training and the fight against the giant beast in detail, including the pool of blood Silah created while trying to protect Hera. It was a bittersweet memory, but the Empress was glad that her ex's bravery would live on through this story.

Eventually, things ended, and Blue gathered her belongings before leaving. She was going through the Aerie and then all the way back to Crydonia, which was the place where her bracelet still was. After meeting Hera, her party waited for one of Eirik's friends to come by and hack everyone's bracelets and keep their tablets. That way, they could ensure the guild was unaware of their movements. They had agreed on a story to tell them about why they split up. Blue would say that Hera was the glue of the party, and now that she was gone, staying with each other hurt too much. She would say that Bonnie and Helena went together to look for a good place for a lab or something, and Alex just vanished one day. Since they didn't show up when Peter was around, it was their hope that the guild would accept that answer without a problem.

With Blue gone, there was a tangible hole in the group. Everyone felt sad about this and upset that the situation devolved to the point where they had to split the party. However, no one was upset with the controller herself. She decided to stay close to her family, and no one could blame her for it. Still, they continued to work to make sure the city was safe. Hera was able to get the entire perimeter of the room on her map and was sharing it with all the other Royal Explorers. Now, the map of the room was almost complete, with only a few holes around the middle and a few more closer to the walls. Those areas were either hard to reach or just out of the way of their current objectives. It would take the Empress one or two more days of flying to finish that. Maybe even less if someone else were to take care of the areas close to the city. That didn't mean they were done exploring the place. Having a full map, by no means, signified that they knew everything there was to know about the room.

Still, all that information helped everyone feel safer in Zaxalam. The main threats were already recognized, and there were already talks of places that could be used for farmland. That included some of the caves and the underground tunnels underneath the city. After all, the dwarves were much more used to growing crops that didn't need any sunlight. Aside from that, there were still some questions that required answers. For instance, they had no idea if Zaxalam was the only city in this place or if there were any hidden passages that they were missing. Or maybe something obvious about the room's weather. Because of that, Shane, Trillian, and Legan gave Hera a list of questions to ask the guide, but the Empress decided to wait some more time before using that skill. For one, she already had Yarnball to try to get some answers, even if, so far, she didn't get anything useful out of the relic. She also wanted to know more about the room to ask better questions instead of just having the guide explain how the seasons worked here.

The idea was to run some dungeons with the royal explorers the day after Blue's party, but some people were hungover. Thanks to her increased poison resistance, it was harder for Hera to get drunk, and she was able to rally after drinking too much without a problem. And this was considering that the skill was still only rank 1. When it increased, she might not even be able to get drunk, unlike the others. To top it all off, there was a storm outside on the day they were supposed to start dungeon runs. In the end, it was a good moment for people to rest. Many of the dwarves stopped by the city entrance to see the waterfall that was formed by the water as it came down the mountain. The snake heads peeking above the city created two single passages for people to come in and out without getting completely drenched while the rest of it was just a single solid sheet of water.

When the next dawn came, the Royal Explorers split off to the various dungeons they found in this room. In total, there were 5: one near the city called 'Trouble in the Jungle,' another two to the west: One called 'Trapped Tree,' and the other 'King of the Jungle.' Then there was one near one of the ruins they found called 'Naga's Ambition,' and finally, the 'Guardian's Rage,' that Hera's group discovered.

In the end, two teams of Royal Explorers were going to the closest to the city, which was just a 10-minute walk away from the entrance. They wanted to know the kinds of supplies they could get in a place like that, and Trouble in the Jungle sounded like a dungeon that would show them how to navigate the place properly. Shane took her team to the Naga's Ambition, knowing that this should be related to a past event, not just a natural dungeon made by the MAZE.

Hera's team, which was now Alex, Bonnie, Helena, and Legan, would be going to challenge the Guardian's Rage dungeon. The Ophidianite believed this was the dungeon that would show her the rest of the vision where she saw Scryotra. There was a part of her that believed this would also show the fall of the Naga or at least the initial crack that led to their empire's downfall.

They were crossing that tunnel with the lake in the middle again and waiting for Helena to finish setting up the cameras. She got in the place when Alex turned to Hera, "So, first, Blue left the party, and the next one is you?"

"Not by choice. And I don't intend to leave the party. I'll just have another one," Hera sighed.

"Why would you leave?" Legan asked.

"I'll be helping the other species around the MAZE. At least, that's the plan. They wanted to have us go to Deakoshara to work on our teamwork, but I'm not even sure if I should take them there," Hera explained.

"And why can't we join?" Legan pressed.

"Because this is supposed to be an impartial team. A team that can work with any species. So, we will have only one member from each species. Except humans, since the conflict revolves around them," Hera continued.

"Around them," Bonnie chuckled, "Look at you already talking like you are not a human."

Hera smiled, "Well, I'm not. Either way, from what I understand, the idea is to have this teamwork, kind of like a special task force and a morale boost. We shouldn't be going to any major areas of conflict but work on the necklines, helping people in trouble and fixing issues that the lack of personnel created. I kind of like the idea, if I'm being honest."

"It sounds fun. I would love to help," Alex helped Helena place one of the cameras on a higher area of the cave and jumped down, "But I know I can't. They don't trust us."

"Not you specifically. Humans in general. According to Rutigan, they understand that not all humans are bad, but they can't rule out the possibility of any human being a spy. So, any sensitive mission won't be shared with humans," Hera walked closer to the water and looked at her own reflection. It was still a bit weird seeing her new face, especially her eyes and ears. Yet, she was starting to get used to it.

"And you will be doing those sensitive missions?" Helena asked, her voice showing some hints of worry.

"That is a possibility. And it's my fault. I kind of sold myself as 'someone who could move around unnoticed while still being safe, thanks to my legacy.'"

"That wasn't that smart," Bonnie frowned.

"I don't know. It was the best thing I could think of at the time. Still, I will kind of feel better knowing you guys are safe. I just wanted a way to continue sharing the essence with others while I'm not around," Hera sighed again.

"Can't you ask that being you talk to about options? Like if you have another way of sharing that?" Alex suggested.

"I've tried, but I can't. The thing is, to raise the rank of the skills, you don't have to drink the essence. The essence is just a way to unlock it," Hera explained.

Bonnie nodded, "Yeah, that does make sense. Like if you get the scales, you can just get hit a lot to raise that skill."

"Exactly. Actually, do you mind helping me come up with ways to increase the ranks of those skills? It would be nice to have like a guideline about what to do to speed up that process," Hera asked.

The group started coming up with some ideas and continued to do so even as they finished setting up the cameras in this place and moved to the dungeon. As they came out of the tunnel, Hera noticed a few of the Stealth Spirits nearby, but they were just watching them. Unsure why she was able to pinpoint them so easily, she just brushed that thought aside and focused on the path ahead. Less than 10 minutes after leaving the tunnel, they found the entrance of the dungeon again. That small cave with a single wooden door.

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Would you like to enter the Guardian's Rage dungeon?

[Yes] [No]

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Everyone nodded and pressed yes. As they opened the door, they found themselves leaving the cave. They were no longer in the same deep jungle but now in a small forest overlooking a prairie. Clay huts could be seen in a large group near the horizon, while a few others were right next to them. All the structures were similar: round walls with roofs made of dried leaves and more clay. But there was a strange drawing on the side of the houses. It was like two claws going in a circle with a toothy maw in the center.

There were some Naga moving around, all wearing more clothes than Hera expected. They had dark green mantles covering their upper body and chests, all with the same symbol that was engraved in the buildings. They all seemed to be going to a specific location: the largest house, which was also the only one with any paint. It was green, and the claw symbol was golden.

Following the flow, the party got ready for an attack, just in case, with the Empress calling out her entire court. At that house's entrance was a Naga with less clothing than the rest, but he had tattoos all around his body. That same symbol appeared repeatedly, even in his own scales. He was ushering everyone in with a large smile.

Seeing Hera's group approaching, he gestured for them to come over, "Get in, get in. Hurry. We have incredible news! But we must share this with everyone."

Alex squinted, "This feels culty."

"C'mon. They might just be happy about a new spell," Hera tried to argue against it as they walked inside.

Only one Naga was standing up, while all the others sat around in a circle. She had large wooden bracelets adorned with flowers and leaves and a necklace with that symbol that everyone seemed to be wearing, "Brothers! Sisters! Welcome all. I thank you for joining me in this most glorious of days. I would like to announce that we have found it. We found our true guardian!"

"Ok, this is culty," Hera whispered in a sigh.

"I have no words to describe it, so we shall just show you. Come, my son," the female Naga gestured to the side, and a smaller one that had a similar shade of red to his scales got closer, holding something inside his hands. The female Naga continued, "Now, show them our true guardian!"

The boy opened his hands, revealing a small black scorpion with the torso of a praying mantis on top of it. But it wasn't a toy or a sculpture but a living, breathing creature.

"For having found it, my boy shall be its partner. Soon, the kingdoms will understand the error of their ways, and we will-" before the Naga could finish her speech, there was a loud crash coming from outside. The Naga, who was by the door, rushed out and quickly came back inside.

"We are being atta-" before he could finish the sentence, a spear pierced his torso, making him fall to the ground.

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Dungeon Quest Chain found

Escape the attack with the future guardian.

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