Hera slowly got up, trying to wake herself up. After she ate under the cherry blossom, a lethargic feeling took over her, making her want to take a nap. This wasn't a strange feeling. Instead, it was closer to what would happen when she ate her grandma's cooking. A mixture of feeling happy, safe, and relaxed all at once.

  She walked around the tree a few times, shaking herself awake. It was a bad idea to sleep outside the village. What if she took too long to go back and has to fight the slimes again? That was the last thing she wanted right now. Not to mention the danger of being attacked out of the blue. As nice as this place was, this wasn't the type of thing she could afford to do in the MAZE.

  Grabbing her things, Hera went back towards the village. She ignored the idea of practicing her own skills and just focused on using the map to push through. The reason for that was the new application she noticed on her tablet. It was simply called 'Dungeon Clock' and it would take a day inside a dungeon to calibrate. Once that step was over, it would synchronize with the time of the dungeon, as they could be very different from the outside.

  According to that app, it was 4 in the afternoon, and night should arrive in a bit over 3 hours. That was roughly the amount of time it took Hera to get here. Or that would be the case if she went back to the creek and then down. Moving directly from the orchard to the village should be much quicker. The only problem was the possibility of finding something else in the way.

  Leaving the orchard, it didn't take long for the repetitive pattern to take over the forest. And it wasn't a seamless transition. Everything happened abruptly. Like someone put one picture on top of another. Still, she continued while mumbling to herself about all the theories she had related to this place.

  After a couple of hours, Hera was not only getting close to the village but to the new open area she had seen. However, it would be a big detour if she wanted to look for it. Then again, she should still have roughly one hour. While that might not be enough to properly explore this new region, it could be enough for a scouting mission.

  Hera kept looking at the trees, hoping to find one that seemed strong enough to hold her. The problem was that those were all linden trees. They were sturdy at the base, but at the top, they were extremely brittle. Even if she tried to climb one of those, she would only be able to reach half the height she wanted.

  Looking at the map, the open area should be northwest of the village, or at least that what it seemed. Since the mission was to let Florence know of a good place, it was understandable that it wouldn't be a place far away from the village. However, that would only be true if it were something real. In this test, Hera had no idea what could reasonable.

  Maybe she could use the orchard as a way to finish her quest. After all, fruits come from flowers, and that place was really colorful. Still, it felt wrong to make a kid walk six hours just to get some fruit. Hera picked her tablet from the holster on her leg.

  "That's weird," she stopped walking.

  According to the map, she had passed the open area she saw. Turning around, Hera went back to the path she took, paying close attention to her surroundings. She tried looking for something different among the trees, the grass, the ground, and even the sky.

  It was hard to focus on looking for something in this place. Hera knew she was moving and that things around her could be hidden. But after seeing the same scenery so many times, it felt like she already seen everything the area had to show. The more she walked, the more bothered she felt about this.

  Even when she was directly on top of the area she marked, she couldn't see anything different. Despite being sure that she, had seen something weird in the area.

  "You know what, I still have five days, I'll deal with this tomorrow," she said to herself.

  Picking the tablet to look at the map, she noticed the time. It was almost 8 p.m. Quickly confirming the direction she needed to go, Hera sprinted towards the village.

  "Crap, crap, crap," she kept saying.

  Since there was no dusk here, it was easy to lose track of time. That's precisely what happened to her. Hera didn't realize she had taken so long searching for the new area. A few moments after she started running, night suddenly arrived. Just like the dawn before, it was like someone had snuffed out the sun, if there was a sun here, to begin with.

  Hera kept running towards the village. Unsure of when the slimes would appear. When she finally saw the wooden houses, she let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, she failed to notice a blue slime swinging towards her.

  The slime's tentacle hit Hera's neck, making her lose her footing and fall to the ground. She managed to roll forward and get up without losing too much of her speed. Looking back, Hera saw the slime approaching for another attack. She grabbed the rake and used it as a bat, sending the creature flying towards a tree. With a satisfied smile, Hera turned around and kept running towards the town.

  She managed to arrive before the slimes, who kept moving in circles around the village. Hayden was still keeping guard near the entrance, but the hunter had yet to fire a single arrow.

  "Thank you for the flowers, traveler. With that, I can just keep guard instead of killing the slimes. But we still need to find what is causing this behavior," The hunter thanked her in the usual mechanical tone.

  "I'ts fline, I'll do i thwomorrows," Hera said.

  She didn't realize before, but her head was spinning, the words came out garbled, and the entire world seemed to be moving too quickly, or she was moving too slowly.

  "You don't look good, traveler," Hayden said, approaching her, "Oh, it seems a blue slime hit you. Be careful, they let out a poison that messes with your head. It's a good thing that the poison is not dangerous by itself. One good night of sleep is all you need to be back in shape."

  Hera tried to thank the hunter, but only an unrecognizable noise came out of her. She forced herself to walk towards the house she was staying, using the rake as a cane. None of the villagers tried to help her. They only stood there, waiting for her to interact with them.

  She knew that this was just a part of the test, it wasn't that they were ignoring her, but they just weren't able to do anything unless she talked to them. Still, that hurt. Hera imagined that no one would treat her like that after becoming an explorer, people would at least acknowledge her.

  Her head was still spinning, flashes of her old boss, her mother, the people in her school peppered her mind. Every memory of a time she was put down, every occasion when people made fun of her for her dreams, and every person who completely ignored her.

  Suddenly, Hera woke up. She couldn't tell how she got inside the house, much less when she fell asleep. The memories she had about the previous night stopped right after she arrived at the village when Hayden said something about poison. Then came the flashes.

  Trying to gather her thoughts, Hera went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. She still felt a bit woozy, but she couldn't find anything else wrong with her.

  Hera ended up sleeping with clothes on, and right now, they were a mess. There were still stained spots from where the slimes hit her, not to talk about the smell. She would definitively need to throw these clothes away after the test. Unfortunately, washing them here wasn't really an option.

  Leaving the house, Hera saw the rake lying on the floor. At least she wouldn't have to go all the way back to the water spring today. Talking to Frank, Hera finished the quest.

  "Thank you very much. I don't know what I would do if without the rake. I went up there looking for the orchard I planted a few years ago, but I ended up forgetting where it was," the farmer said.

  "Oh, I've found it. It is a beautiful place. I even got some fruit there. Which are yours, I guess? I can give them to you," Hera said.

  "No need. I'm just happy that small field grew into something lasting."

  Frank had a soft smile on his face. Hera tried to talk more about the orchard, but he went back to the repetitive replies.

  She walked back to the center of the village. She still had to find the reason for the attacks at night and find the flower field for Florence. Thinking about what to do, she looked around the homestead, for some reason, looking at these people was annoying her. She couldn't tell why, but seeing them just standing around bugged her.

  Looking back at the quests, she considered her options. Dealing with the flower field could take some time, but it could end up being something quick. Going after the slimes gave her at least a couple of hours away from them, and she would be able to let out some steam. During the last month, she realized how relaxing hitting things was.

  Out of curiosity, she opened the test quest to check her progress.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Role test: Explorer

  The green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test.

  This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities.

  Current discovery progress 60%

  [X] Discovered Woodland

  [X] Found Peaches

  [X] Found the materials for Betty, the blacksmith

  [X] Discovered a way to protect the village from attacks

  [X] Gazed upon the ever blooming tree

  [X] Retrieved farmer Frank's rake

  [ ]?????????????

  [ ]?????????????

  Requirements achieved.

  [Press to end the test]

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Hera stared at the quest for a moment. Her finger was hovering over the button on the screen. She could finish it already? Her heart started to beat faster and faster. If she finished the test right now, she could go back and officially become an explorer. She could come back, talk to her friends, thank Helena, and start getting ready to explore the MAZE. She could also take a shower and eat some real food. Fruits were fine and all, but they didn't beat a triple cheeseburger filled with bacon.

  As she was about to press it, she remembered what Omar said during the explanation of the role. He had gotten just a passing grade and got a radar as a reward. What would be the reward for a higher grade on the test? Could she get an item too? Maybe a pet or a skill? What if she could get a legacy here? Ok maybe not, but still, doing her best should only bring benefits.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  She closed the quest. It was just a passing grade, and she could look for at least two things right now. The reason for the slime's behavior and the flower field for Florence. She grabbed some fruit and got ready to leave the village. If she dealt with the slimes, she could look for the flowers even at night.

  She made a quick stop at the creek to fill her waterskin and headed towards the slime den. Moving along the stream was more relaxing than through the forest. The only downside was that she needed to stop to relieve herself a couple of extra times.

  "I can't believe flowing water has this effect on me, although I am drinking more water since I can refill it all the time. I just hope Peaches doesn't show up when I'm doing this," she said to herself.

  It was already uncomfortable to do this in the open, but having a talking apple around would be horrifying.

  Finally, reaching the area where the slimes lived, Hera traveled even deeper into their territory. She had to fight a couple of monsters, but she did her best to avoid tiring herself. It would be a wrong move to spend all her energy early on. She needed to be focused and ready for greater threats.

  Hera kept going for another hour in the slime area. During that time, she only fought about a dozen slimes. One trick that helped her a lot was using fruit as bait. If she threw a slice or a berry near them, the slimes would be too preoccupied with the food to notice her getting close.

  A couple of times, she even managed to strike fast enough to save the bait. That meant she could do it a few more times. After all, she didn't want to use all her food just to kill the monsters. During that time, she gathered five pieces of liquid metal. Soon she might be able to get an actual weapon from Betty.

  At the end of the hour, Hera saw the forest give way to a vast grassland. She tried to approach it, but her hand was stopped in the air as if she were pressing against a sheet of glass.

  This seemed to be the invisible wall, like the ones Mr. Greyson talked about in the first week of training. However, they were not supposed to exist in dungeons. The weirdest part of this wasn't just being stopped by something she couldn't see, but the wall was warm. Not enough to heat anything. It was colder than her hand, but it felt like an empty cup of coffee that was sitting out for a while.

  Hera kept walking along the wall, staring at the open field before her. The grass kept going all the way to the horizon. She could probably see for a few kilometers. There wasn't any place like this in the real world. The closest to it would be the desert or the arctic, but never a grassland. Distracted by the view, she only stopped when a large rock was in her way. The boulder seemed to be pressed against the wall.

  Hera walked around it, trying to understand what she was seeing. Since she got close to the wall, no slimes appeared, so this should be something different. But the gray rock looked just like that, a gray rock.

  Unsure if it really was something Hera activated her [Inspect].

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Apex Slime (Simulation)

  Type: Ruler

  A slime that grew to abnormal size due to its feeding habits. Devouring everything in its path, even rocks, the slime developed a unique trait, turning its body into a liquid that can change densities.

  It hunts by overwhelming its prey with its size and weight, or covering the prey with its viscous fluids and increasing the density until it cannot move.

  Species not present inside the MAZE, created exclusively for the test.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Hera was only able to read the name of the creature before the slime crashed down on her like a wave.

  The only thing Hera could see right now was the slime's description. She felt as if she was buried under sand, and each passing second made it harder for her to move. She couldn't even close the notification or breathe. The gray slimy goo was covering her entire body. Thankfully, she could still see the sunlight. The slime wasn't completely opaque. She did her best to move around, trying to find a way to escape from the creature's grasp.

  As she managed to push one of her hands outwards, the creature shifted its body, making Hera lose any ground she had gained. She tried to move downward, attempting to reach solid ground. But the slime stretched herself up, making Hera stay even farther away from the floor. The creature unintendedly made its body more flexible as it changed shape, giving Hera the chance to move around.

  Trying to reach out, she did her best to feel any indication of where she could go. A small warm feeling near her back caught Hera's attention. It felt almost like the spheres she used during the evade training. Spinning inside the creature was closer to swimming in mud than to moving on the ground. It took Hera longer than she was expecting to face that heat. She was starting to feel dizzy. It's been too long since she started holding her breath.

  Looking down, she could see a shape, a circular shape about the size of a baseball. She reached towards it, and the creature shifted, stretching even higher. The creature understood the motion was Hera trying to escape, but in doing so, it became easier for the recruit to move around. She tried to seize the object once more, and the slime stretched yet again.

  To anyone outside, the apex slime was now taller than the trees. Feeling like she could move more freely, Hera pretended that the liquid was as dense as always and pushed her hand closer to what she believed to be the slime's core. The moment she felt it was close enough to grasp it, Hera snapped her arm towards it.

  As she grasped the core with the tips of her fingers, the slime started to spasm wildly. It contracted and stretched in various directions, Hera felt like she was being crushed and tossed around. Being under a hydraulic press and inside a washing machine at the same time. However, the constant motion also gave her some extra room to move around. She pressed the core as tightly as she could, trying to reach her chakram with the other hand.

  Finally grabbing the weapon at her waist, Hera tried to aim the chakram to strike the slime's core. However, the moment the chakram passed through part of the sludge in front of her, the creature compressed back into the size of a boulder and spat Hera out.

  Hera hit the ground and tumbled back, coughing and wheezing as she gasped for air. The slime was still having some spasms, but they started to get weaker. After a few moments, Hera managed to get back up and stare at the creature.

  Her body hurt and she could see black bruises around her arms, but the adrenaline pumping through her veins was enough to turn the pain into a slight discomfort. As she got up, the slime stopped moving around and started approaching her, several tendrils of sludge raised above it, pointing towards the recruit.

  Hera wanted to run. This creature was too much for her to fight alone. But could she? What would happen if she tried to run, and the slime attacked her? It was too risky, even if every inch of her body wanted to flee, but she had to wait for the right time.

  The slime attacked with one of its tentacles, the same way one would attack using a spear. Hera dodged to the side and slashed the tendril with the chakram, cutting it away from the rest of the body. The part that she removed fell onto the ground and started to dissolve. Hera glanced at it and saw that it was taking more time than the other slimes to disappear.

  The creature attacked again. Two more tendrils flew towards Hera. She dodged the first, but the second hit her right shoulder. The hit wasn't strong enough to make Hera fall, but it took away her chance of attacking one of the tendrils. Looking around, Hera could see the grassland to her left. She was too close to the wall.

  The tendrils were assailing Hera while she kept dodging most of them. Being grazed by a few and cutting off others. She was trying to move away from the wall, not only so she wouldn't end up being blocked by it, but also to increase her chances of escaping.

  As she fought, one of the tendrils hit one part that was cut off from the slime. The moment it did that, the motionless liquid started to move and came back to the slime with the tentacle. Seeing that, Hera frowned. She planned to keep cutting the creature into pieces so it wouldn't be able to reach her as she ran. Yet it could retrieve the liquid if it was quick enough.

  The tendrils kept attacking, but now, the slime was with its back against the wall. Hera took a step back with each dodge, cutting the tentacles at every opportunity she had. Until one of the slime's attacks stopped before reaching her. That was the chance she was expecting. She waited for one more round of attacks, and they all missed, stopping a few centimeters short of reaching her. Before the tendrils even returned to the slime, Hera turned around and started to run.

  She knew that the MAZE was a dangerous place, but she also knew that running away would always be an option. The test is over. She could just finish it right now. She didn't try to do it before because she usually would freeze during the teleportation. If the slime were still moving, it could easily kill her. She needed to find a safe place. Somewhere she could stop and end the test.

  Hera glanced back and saw the slime reaching its tendrils to several trees. In a way, it almost looked like a slingshot. Coming with that realization, Hera dove at the same time the slime catapulted itself towards her. The monster flew past Hera and landed in front of her, blocking her path.

  "Seriously? I just wanna finish the test!" she yelled.

  The tendrils raised once again as Hera grasped her weapons tightly. If that thing wasn't going to let her pass, she would have to finish it.

  The struggle continued for twenty minutes. Much longer than any fights were supposed to happen. According to Mr. Greyson, singular fights hardly ever lasted more than a couple of minutes. The ones that did, became battles of attrition. And this was very much the case.

  The creature had been reduced to the size of a large dog. Compared with the boulder it was before, right now, it was much less menacing. Yet, it wasn't the only one who struggling. Hera was feeling sore, sweat dripped from her face, her hair glued to her skin. She was exhausted, but the creature was relentless in its attacks. It almost seemed like it had infinite stamina, even after being reduced to this size. Right now, Hera probably would be able to run from it. Yet, she spent so much time dealing with the creature that it felt a waste to run now.

  She needed to finish this.

  Hera dashed towards the monster and aimed her handaxe towards where she felt the creature's core. The slime tried to grab her arm, but Hera used the chakram to cut away another piece of the monster. She kept slashing at the slime, and the slime attacked her back. There was no technique or skill in this fight. It looked like two beasts trying to kill each other before they were killed.

  A few moments later, Hera finally made a cut deep enough to reach the core. The slime shivered and started to spasm wildly. Its body changing its density quickly and randomly. It even created spikes that pierced Hera's arms and shoulder. She didn't care. The only thing on her mind was to kill this monster.

  Hera hit the core once again, and the spams only became more savage. On the third strike, the slime lost part of its form, becoming little more than a puddle on the ground. Having a clearer shot, Hera slashed the core with all her strength, making the handaxe lodge itself deep into the ground.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The core broke in half, and the rest of the slime dissolved in an instant. Even the pieces spread around the area disappeared.

  Now, the broken slime core was floating in a puddle of dark purple liquid. Worried it might be something else, Hera stepped back and activated her [Observe].

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Broken Apex slime core

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Liquid metal - Purple

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Seeing the names, Hera relaxed and slumped back.

  The slime was dead.

  Picking her satchel, she noticed that the monster ate some of the fruits inside it and even her waterskin was dirty. She threw away the contents of the bag and placed the metal inside it. It was a piece much larger than the ones she got from the regular slimes. Maybe this would be enough for Betty to make a weapon.

  She glanced at her tablet, and thankfully the holster was still keeping it in one piece, even if it was covered in a thin layer of gay goo.

  Activating her [Inspect], she tried to get more information about the objects. The metal had only one line saying that the metal can change its color and proprieties, depending on the monster that generated it. The core, on the other hand, had more information.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Broken slime core (Simulation)

  Type: Apex Slime

  The core of a slime creature. It controls how the rest of the body moves. In most cases, the core stays in the center of the slime's mass, even when it changes shape. The quickest way of defeating a slime is to destroy its core.

  A creature with an apex core becomes the unofficial leader of the species in that area. In situations where the species has a leader, it is typical to see the monsters becoming more aggressive and present odd behaviors.

  Species not present inside the MAZE, created exclusively for the Explorers test.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "I guess I finished this one too," she said with a smile.

  Reaching for the core and the liquid metal, Hera felt a sharp pain through her body. Looking at her arms, she was covered in bruises and small cuts. Grabbing her tablet, she opened the test quest. Sadly, it was still at 60%. She probably would need to talk to Hayden before completing this quest.

  She picked her drops and moved towards the creek to wash herself and then walked back to Woodland. It took her longer than she wanted, but she wasn't in the best shape right now.

  When she arrived, Hayden was at the entrance of the village. She talked to the hunter, who thanked her for the job, completing her quest. He also said something about the legend of a slime that walked like a human, but Hera was too tired to pay attention. She walked towards Betty, asking about the weapon. Confirming that the blacksmith had everything that she needed, Hera asked for a handaxe. Betty said she could do it, but she would need one day.

  Hera nodded and went to the house she was using. She didn't care if it was still light out, she needed a long night of sleep after that fight. Sitting on the bed, she stared at her tablet.

  "Maybe I should finish the test now. It doesn't matter if I can't go past 60%," she mumbled.

  "Are you sure about that?"

  Hera looked up. In the middle of the table, there was a familiar giant green apple looking at her.

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