Hera had to admit Blue had a knack for finding good spots. The bar she picked was not only in a lovely place near the guild, but the smell coming from the kitchen was otherworldly. The pub was called the Lying Apple, and, being true to the name, most dishes and drinks looked as if apples were among their ingredients. However it was all a trick.

  The 'nApple Pie' was made with giant plums. The Baked nApples were potatoes grown in apple shaped cases. Despite the fun gimmick, it was very weird to see all dishes with nApple in the name. As in not apples.

  Still, there were a great number of people in the establishment. Luckily, the group found a table just for them. It didn't take long for the waiter to bring the first round of drinks. The group kept discussing what happened in the tower, and the conversation spiraled into how much they were annoyed with Anaya.

  During that time, more and more people entered the bar, most of them looked at the large TV expectantly.

  As the server brought the third round of drinks and a plate of fries, Leo asked, "Hey, is something going on? There seem to be a lot of people here."

  The server looked at the hunter with a puzzled expression, "You don't know? They are preparing to break the next Wall. Today, there will be the start of the coverage."

  "Really? They actually televise that?" Blue gasped.

  "Yeah, only to the MAZE, though. The strength that people show on those things can cause a panic outside," the server explained.

  Suddenly, the bar erupted in loud cheers, followed by a few people telling everyone to quiet down. The television showed the guild emblem, the familiar doorway with a city inside of it.

  The camera then panned towards the door, and flashes of different places appeared on the screen. First, an urban city, then a castle, a volcano, a desert, an island, and it ended with a wide shot of one of the guild branches. The screen went dark, and then a woman with pale blue hair, brown eyes, and large white rings painted on the side of her face appeared on the screen .

  "Hello everyone, this is Becca Swan coming at you live from the Queeroni Wilds, where the preparations for the Wall breaking are underway."

  The camera panned to the side, showing hundreds of tents and people walking around from the top of a hill or a cliff. In the back, Hera could see a few hundred meters of an open field followed by a thick and lush jungle.

  "This is just the crew that came to set everything up. Thankfully, we are being protected by a few of the best among us. Later this week, I will have the honor of interviewing them. But today, I want to show you all the stars of our show!"

  Becca made a motion to her left, and the camera panned to follow. The reporter was against a white background. Something that looked like a studio or an intentionally placed backdrop. Yet, when the view shifted, everyone could see that wasn't the case.

  Behind her, and beyond the hill, there was this massive, completely smooth white wall. It went so high into the sky that vanished in the clouds above, stopping them in their tracks. It went towards the ground and seemingly dug underneath everything.

  The camera shifted again, moving both left and right, showing how this one wall continued endlessly to both sides. There was a particularly big gash right in the middle of the screen surrounded by dents and cracks. The camera didn't stay long on that shot, and Becca quickly stepped into the frame.

  "As you all know, when you travel deeper into new layers, we find this Wall from time to time. This is spread across every room with connections beyond Layer 25. Without exception, all of them will have this Wall blocking our path forward. To be able to travel even further, we need to break this barrier. Doing so will unlock new rooms, new layers, and, of course, new treasures for us all!"

  The complete bar cheered at the comment.

  "Now, each new Wall that we find is harder than the last one. The first wall was destroyed by a single man, Khan, the Wall Breaker. Sadly, no one is able to do the same today. Now we need a huge number of powerful individuals to take this barrier down. But it's a balancing act. The more people appear, the sturdier the Wall will become."

  The camera panned to the camp once more and focused on a group walking towards the vantage point. At the same time, Becca kept talking.

  "Those are our protectors, and they will also be part of the effort to break the wall. You can see the ones already here. Toxic Rain, the deadly hunter with a heart of gold. Iron Heart, the great defender. Wildborn, the healer with a soul and, of course, the best Hunter in the entire world. Azure Chain!"

  People cheered even harder as she introduced the explorers. They were a bit too far away to be able to see too many details. The only thing that Hera could see was someone clad in blue with a chain floating around his arms.

  "Damn, they even got Iron Heart to help. The kid hardly ever makes an appearance," a man from another table said.

  "Yeah, but I'm more surprised Wildborn is there. The dude is insane. I didn't expect him to want to be part of a group," another patron spoke.

  "I wonder who is leading the assault. Or do you think it will just be a ready, set, go thing?" a woman asked.

  The camera went back to Becca with the wall behind her. “It’s been a while since a group like this was gathered to break a Wall. Unfortunately, at the time, we weren't strong enough to breakthrough. That's why the guild increased the level of requirements for the operation. Every single one of two hundred explorers who will be a part of the attack will be over level 85."

  "Damn, that is a lot. I had no idea there were so many people on that level already," Leo gasped.

  "Really? I think it's rather low. Think about it. People spend their entire lives here. I imagined the levels would be over a hundred already," Alex said.

  "Sure, but you are forgetting the age problem. I believe that the oldest explorer on the front line is just 43. Everyone older than that tends to stay away from places that are too unpredictable. Aside from Toxic Rain. Trying to raise your level in places below your level is too ineffective," Bonnie explained.

  "Wait, isn't that layer 25? That already a big gap on the levels," Blue said.

  "Layers are not levels," Bonnie rolled her eyes and parroted what they learned in class," Each room has its own level range, although you need a high level observe to see it. Brinefront's range is from 2 to 6. When you move through the same layer, the difference is not that big. But when you go from the first to the second layer, for instance. It's not impossible to see a 10 level gap among the rooms. Mr. Greyson told us that during training."

  "Now, everyone. Pay close attention to what is about to happen. You won't want to miss it!" Becca twirled around like the host of a carnival presenting the next attraction.

  The wall suddenly was engulfed in multicolored flames. It happened in a split second, and it stayed burning for 30 seconds. After that, the fire started to change color. First it all turned orange, then red, then yellow and becoming darker and darker. At one point, looking at the barrier was like looking into the darkness, no light, no movement, just an endless dark abyss. During the entire process, not a single sound came from the patrons at the bar.

  Just as quickly as the flames began, they were snuffed out, and the wall remained in place, unscathed. The small dents and the gashes on the wall vanished with the flames. The wall was perfectly smooth now.

  "This, ladies and gentlemen, was the Wall reset. It happens once every 45 minutes. If we can't break down the Wall during that time, it will regenerate completely. Now, I asked you to send me your questions about the operation via Chipper and there are a few we picked to be answered live. So let's see here," Becca picked her tablet and started to scroll through the messages. She then pressed something on the tablet, and a picture with the chipper vignette appeared on the screen.

  @ladyrat, who are you most excited to interview?

  Becca read the question out loud and already started replying, "The true answer to that is still a secret. We are still making some arrangements to see if it will work out. But of the ones I can tell you about, it would be Iron Heart. It is so rare for him to agree to interviews. I can't wait to get to know him better."

  Hera kept watching the reporter. Her eyes seemed to shine when she answered the questions. The Explorer couldn't help but notice that Becca seemed very comfortable with what she was doing. She would play with the camera, joke with the questions. It all felt very natural and fun to watch.

  @loney_narwhal_72 asks, why only 200 will be part of the attack? Shouldn't the guild send everyone?

  Becca tapped on her tablet once more, and a picture of a different wall appeared. This one seemed to be in a beach area.

  "We had another 500 questions like this one. I will do my best to explain why we limit the number of people. Each wall has different attributes. They can vary from magic or physical resistance. Those attributes will also increase depending on the number of people that are attacking it at once. Not only that, but there is a threshold for when those attributes increase even more."

  Becca made a pause, looking beyond the camera, " Well, if my crew's expression is anything to go by. This made no sense," she laughed, "Let's put it in numbers. Let's say that every person who joins on the Wall break would make the wall 10% stronger. If the number of people attacking goes over the limit, the increase would turn into 100% per person," she looked back at the crew, "Is that better, guys?"

  Some laughs came out of the crew and the people in the bar. Becca kept explaining how they figured out the limit for this particular Wall. She also talked about how there were records of a Wall that could only have a little over 20 people attacking at once before becoming too strong.

  Becca continued to answer various questions as the bar returned to normal. People went back to order food and drinks. Some were still paying attention to the television, but not nearly as invested as before.

  "Do you guys think anyone we know is going to be there?" Blue asked.

  "Yeah, sure we, who have been explorers for less than a month, already know the strongest people in the entire world," Bonnie rolled her eyes.

  "Well, who knows? We saw a bunch of people in the guild. Nothing stops them from being strong. But this is the first time I heard about that wall. When did they find it?" Hera asked.

  "It was around 50 years ago. For a while, they tried once a year, but when it became clear they didn't have enough people, they sent a message for everyone to level up. I heard they got the required numbers to try just last week."

  The group turned toward the voice. A familiar face met them, wearing one of the servers' uniforms and picking up the empty glasses from the table.

  "Kenji? What are you doing here?" Hera asked.

  "Working, I had some issues to find a party. And I'm not about to group up with Anaya after what she did. I mean, it's one thing to go for the gold, another to toss your party to the wolves while you do it," Kenjiro finished, picking up the dirty dishes from the table and looked into everyone's eyes.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "I'm sorry for what happened. I thought she had found a lever or something. When I realized it was too late. I should have waited or something, but I messed up. Your next round is on me. It is the least I can do."

  "Oh... thanks," Leo wasn't expecting that type of apology. He never gave too much thought to Kenji or Tiffany, for that matter. He was sure it was all Anaya's fault.

  "Why couldn't you find a party?" Blue asked.

  "Nothing much. I didn't want to be in a group with Anaya, and no low-level parties were recruiting. Now, I'm going to wait for Tiffany so we can at least be a duo. I tried to hunt alone, but it takes too much time to find a lonely frog, and it's too risky to go after packs by myself. Anyway, I'll be right back with your orders and another round," Kenjiro said as he left the table.

  "I guess he wasn't to blame in the end," Leo mumbled.

  Alex crossed her arms, "I'm not sure. I mean, if you commit a crime by accident, it is still a crime;"

  "That's a bit harsh considering what he did. It wasn't a crime," Hera said.

  "It still was wrong, and I'm with Alex on this," Blue huffed as she bit the last piece bacon left on the table.

  Kenji came back with their orders and a round of beer. He apologized once more and kept working, not trying to interact with the group. Hera and her friends kept drinking and eating until late at night. Near the closing time of the bar, they returned to the hotel.

  "So, what are we doing tomorrow?" Bonnie asked.

  "Drink some more!" Blue shouted, raising an invisible glass.

  "I'm guessing she's going to nurse another hangover," Leo was strolling with his head tilted back, feeling the breeze on his face.

  "Probably, and you want to find the thing, right?" Hera asked.

  "Yep, and you two?" Leo turned to Bonnie and Alex.

  "I wanted to go back to the Arcanist Lookout, but I think I should look for a new spell first. I have some ideas. Either way, I hoped we could make some money this week. I'm just 4,000 gold away from the 10,000 I need," Bonnie was looking at her tablet.

  "I want to deal with a role quest in the morning. But I'm free in the afternoon if you guys want to hunt," Alex stretched, raising her arms to the sky.

  "Stop being a buzz kill, we think about what to do tomorrow," Blue jumped on Hera's back, almost making the explorer fall. She reeked of alcohol.

  "Fine, fine. You are so gonna regret drinking this much," Hera said, laughing.

  Next morning, Hera woke up to a text from Leo, asking if they could go after the frog he wanted to tame. She quickly dressed in the bathroom to avoid waking Blue up. When she was ready, she sent a text to the Hunter, letting him know she would meet him downstairs. However, before Hera left the room, someone started to bang loudly on her door.

  "Ok, Hera, I'll meet you downstairs. Be careful not to wake Blue up, ok?" Leo yelled as he kept hitting the door.

  Blue groaned and pulled a pillow over her head, "Whyyyyy?"

  Hera giggled and went to the door to stop the hunter.

  "Oh, hi, Hera. Take your time, there is no rush," Leo said as she opened the door.

  "I have a feeling that if I let you keep going, someone is going to get hurt. Besides, we are not the only ones in the hotel. I doubt everyone is fine with you screaming like that," she walked out of the room and closed the door.

  "Fair point, I already sent a text to Bonnie and Alex, letting them know we are going out. If everything goes well, we can meet them for lunch."

  "Sure. Let's just stop by a bakery or something. I want to grab something to eat on the road."

  Agreeing with the suggestion, the two of them got some pastries, and in less than one hour, they were heading towards the city gate. There were more people than they were expecting at this time in the morning. It wasn't even eight, and various groups were leaving or arriving in the town.

  Hera wondered if there was something that only happened in the morning or if it was just a way to use the sunlight. Among the groups that were arriving, a few looked very tired and worn out. It wouldn't be a surprise if they spent the entire night traveling to the city.

  "Do you have any idea what is west of here?" Leo asked.

  "No clue. I never looked too much into the map to the far west, but now I'm curious too. When we come back, I'll take a look," Hera replied.

  Leaving the city, they spent half an hour walking along the road.

  "Ok, so first of all. Tell me how you are going to get the skill," Hera asked.

  "According to the compendium, I have to befriend a monster or animal. It says the easiest way is to find a stray dog or something and then let it go when I come to the MAZE, but that feels mean. The idea is to create an emotional connection. Most advice that the compendium gave was about creating threats and saving the monster or something like that. That's just wrong. I mean, I get it, that is the most effective way, but still."

  Hera nodded, "Yeah, doing that to an animal is not right. But the idea of using dogs and cats is a good one. You know they are a thing back in Brinefront, right? I told you about the statue."

  Leo scratched the back of his head, "Yeah. But there are two problems. First, dogs don't grow to be very strong. I mean that from a MAZE standpoint. At most, I'll have what a wolf? In later layers, they would be just cannon fodder. And I refuse to do that. The second issue is... well... I'm not a dog person. They are too agitated and loud. I prefer cats."

  "Can't say I relate to that last part. I like both cats and dogs. But I understand your concern. You don't want a simple pet. You want a partner, right?"

  "Exactly! That's why I thought about the small frog. I did some research, and they never stop growing even after they reach their maximum level. I could try one of the regular frogs, but the rain frog seems way more helpful."

  "Ok, then. I think I know what we should look for."

  Hera pulled Yarnball's string and held it in front of her. With a long strand dangling on the other side of her hand. Focusing for a moment, she considered how to phrase the question. Nothing said that she couldn't be specific when using the dowsing rod, "Show us the closest giant rain frog that is alone and can be tamed by Leo."

  For a moment, nothing happened. Hera looked at the thread, worried she might have done something wrong. Then she felt like Yarnball was pulling her mana, slowly at first, then it became hungrier. She felt all her mana leave her body, and that wasn't enough.

  Her relic continued eating, making her feel tired and lethargic. Yarnball felt almost like a leech sucking out everything inside of her. Finally, the thread moved and pointed towards the northeast. Hera quickly made a line in the ground using her foot before the string went limp in her hand.

  "Hera? Are you all right?" Leo asked, seeing the explorer's face. She was pale, very pale, and her eyes were bloodshot. If he hadn't watched it all happen, he wouldn't believe she was fine just a few moments ago.

  "I'm not sure. Just… very tired. I guess I overdid it a little. It was the first time I used this ability, and I wasn't expecting this," she replied, trying to smile but even that only made her look worse.

  "Sit down. We can deal with this later. You need to rest," Leo held Hera's arm, helping her to walk.

  "First, let me get the map. I need to mark the direction," Hera picked her tablet and drew a line, doing her best to follow the direction Yarnball gave her.

  Leo gave Hera some rations he had brought. She refused at first, but a growl from her stomach made her realize how hungry she suddenly was. After about half an hour, Hera had eaten all the power bars she had, and most of her water was gone, but she was feeling well enough to keep going.

  They walked in the direction Hera had marked. Focusing on the surrounding area to see if they would find the rain frog that Leo wanted. A couple of times, they had to duck down and go around a large group of frogs. It was one thing if they had the entire party here, but fighting 6 frogs with just the two of them wasn't a good idea.

  After passing through the third large group of frogs, Leo turned to Hera, worried, "Can you tell me what happened back there? When you used your item."

  Hera looked down, "I honestly don't know. It was the first time I ever used that part of Yarnball. I wasn't expecting it to do that to me. The description said that the effect depends on the user's strength. I figured it meant that it would work better as I leveled up, but it felt almost like a parasite eating away my energy."

  "That's creepy, to say the least."

  "You have no idea how it felt. It was even creepier. It was like being a battery for something. I'm just not sure if it was a regular thing or just because of what I asked it to find."

  Leo nodded, " Yeah, it was really specific. Maybe that has something to do with it. "

  "Maybe. I'll ask Bonnie what she thinks about it later, and Helena."

  They kept looking for a giant rain frog for some time. Hera was still worried about Yarnball's effect. It had caught her completely off guard. What if she had used the ability in a more serious situation?

  She was deep in thought, considering what she could do to avoid being drained in that way when a loud squeaky noise stopped Leo.

  "Did you hear that?" the Hunter asked.

  "No, what?" A few moments passed, and another squeaky sound came from their left.

  They looked at each other and quietly moved towards the noise. They found a small cliff, just five meters tall. At the bottom of it, there was a small pond and a single rain frog about the size of a bulldog.

  "That one is bigger than the last, isn't it?" Hera asked.

  "I'm not sure. It looks less bulky, but a bit taller."

  The frog they saw had a deep green pattern around its back. It also was a bit more elongated than the first one. Giving it a close look, the frog was limping and having trouble getting inside the pond.

  "So, what's the plan now?" Hera whispered to Leo.

  "Stay here. I'll go down there and try to befriend him."

  Hera stared at the hunter for a moment, "That's the plan? Just go there and say, 'Will you be my friend?'"

  "Well, I'm going to offer it food. I got some bait in the town. Then I'm going to try to show that I'm not a threat and make it feel comfortable around me."

  "So kinda like meeting a wild dog?"

  "Yeah, close to it."

  "Ok, it looks hurt, so here," Hera gave her first aid kit to Leo, "If you can, try to fix its leg. I'll be up here looking if something else shows up. Or if it starts to attack you."

  "Deal, but try not to jump if it attacks me, only if I call for help."

  "Yeah, not gonna happen. We are all being way too reckless. The moment that thing becomes aggressive, I'm jumping in."

  The hunter attempted to persuade Hera with no success. After giving up, he walked to the side and went down the cliff. Carefully approaching the rain frog carefully, the Hunter was noticed rather quickly. The frog squeaked once more, staring at Leo. Making him stop and stay completely still. A few minutes passed while the two kept staring at each other. The first to break the tension was the frog when it looked around after some wind rustled the leaves of the trees.

  Hera watched this little dance between the Hunter and the frog. Every time Leo took a step closer to the creature, it would turn around, squeak loudly and prepare to attack. Leo would place another piece of the bait near him and wait until the beast relaxed.

  It didn't take long for Hera to get bored watching that and started to focus on other things. She read a bit about the Frog Valley, trying to get ready for when they were going to challenge the dungeon. Every now and then, Hera would glance towards her party member, making sure nothing was coming closer to Leo.

  After that, Hera started to practice the light spell once more. She felt like she was getting closer to doing it, but there was still something missing. After several tries, with her mana already at half, Hera looked down to the cliff again. Leo was now around five meters away from the frog. He was still leaving a trail of bait as he got closer.

  Hera looked behind her and was caught off guard by the sunlight directly in her eye. She turned around and blinked, activating her Pulse to be sure nothing was coming closer. Thankfully, there were no creatures within her range.

  She moved toward the shadows, and something clicked inside her head. She was thinking about the result as if it would be a lightbulb or a spotlight. But the way Bonnie and Helena had used it was more like a ball of light, something closer to the sun.

  Once again, trying with the new image in her mind, Hera wanted to mimic the effect the sun would have. An omnidirectional light that could light up everything it touched. Focusing on her finger, a small glimmer appeared. She pumped more mana into it, and suddenly, the light turned into a blinding flash. It became so bright that it looked like someone had turned on a floodlight. Just as quickly as it began, the light disappeared.

  "Hera! What the hell?" Leo yelled.

  "Sorry, sorry. My bad," Hera was still blinking, unable to see a thing at the moment.

  "What happened?" the Hunter asked.

  "I was trying a spell. I guess I overdid it."

  "Just don't do it again. I was close to it, but now the frog is scared. I'm going to have to start all over."

  "Sorry again," Hera said.

  It took ten minutes for the explorer to recover her sight. And another hour for Leo get back the progress he had lost. During that time, Hera focused on recovering and cycling her mana. Even though she wanted to attempt to use the light spell again, it was better to wait. Not to mention, she was positive there was some sort of skill that would speed up the process of recovering her magic.

  Another hour went by, Hera was glad they weren't too far from the city. At least she could keep browsing through the Internet. Suddenly, a notification popped up, showing a text from Helena.

  Hello, Sweetie.

  I have some news. On Friday afternoon, I'm stopping by Brinefront, and I want to talk to you about how you can help me.

  Later, I can talk to Bonnie about the order and recruit her if she's up for it.

  If you can't be in the city on Friday, let me know.

  Hope you are having fun.

  Kisses.

  Hera smiled. She wasn't able to get any quests from the order these past few days. Every quest available was for different layers or to harvest creatures she had yet to find. There were other quests at the guild, but they were mostly about hunting frogs or delivering goods. However, she had yet to look for dungeon related quests.

  Not to mention, she really wanted to help Helena. Thinking about all that, she almost didn't hear Leo calling her.

  "Hera, come here quickly."

  The Explorer looked towards Leo and saw him holding the frog is his arms, he had a worried expression, and the frog seemed to be bleeding from its mouth. She quickly went down the cliff and tried to [Inspect] the frog.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Giant Rain Frog (Poisoned)

  Type: Procyon gallaris

  A rare breed of giant frog that only is born out of 10 million eggs. A proficient digger that can't jump as most frogs do. However, its legs can propel the frog forward at high speeds. It's high-pitched squeak, It's a singular battle cry. After some time, the squeak has the ability to harm those that hear it, disorienting them.

  The species can grow up to 2 meters tall, fully grown Giant Rain Frogs can break down reinforced iron walls with a tackle.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "It is poisoned!" Hera gasped.

  "How can you tell?"

  "Use your Inspect."

  Leo stared at the frog, "Crap, do you think they would let us go into the town with it?"

  "I have no idea, but there are no better options. Let's hurry, he? She? It? Seems really bad."

  Leo nodded, and the pair rushed towards the town gate.

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