158 Once more, with feeling (2/2)

”That's not so far from mine. I need to change the battlefield a set number of times. Whatever that means,” Blue scoffed.

”Very well. We all have short-term goals, and only two of those have specific requirements. I suggest that we face some beasts as one to familiarize ourselves with our peers' combat style. I believe that during the rampage, we all were unable to focus our attention on the fight of others,” Tom suggested.

It was an interesting idea, giving Alex's cloak a chance to be ready. Runir and Tom were also waiting for orders they had placed during the last few days. Runir had ordered some accessories that would give him minor buffs to his barriers and his mana regeneration. Thomas was waiting for a new rapier. He got frustrated that his current weapon wasn't strong enough to pierce the Wendigo's shell and wanted to rectify that.

The group left and went hunting once more. Hera and Alex checked with the guild if they had any quests to hunt and gather small materials from the monsters. They had quests for both, but the rewards were pretty low compared to the quests that asked for the hide and monsters' meat. But carrying all that back would be too much trouble. None of them had any intention of doing that, and with just the rewards from the hunting quests, it would be more than enough to get by.

While hunting, Hera felt much more confident in what she was doing. After fighting nonstop for almost a week, facing a single monster wasn't much of a threat. Now Hera, Blue, and Alex started to focus on the fight in a different way. They could not just react to the monster and try to find an opening, but focus on their own movements and see where they were making mistakes.

Their teamwork had improved a lot, especially between Hera and Alex. The two fought together for most of the rampage, so it wasn't much of a surprise. Blue became much more proficient in holding back the monsters. Now the creatures would hardly ever change their focus when she started fighting them, allowing the rest of the group to focus on dealing damage. Her shoulder guards also helped a lot. Even the moles who focused more on smell than sight had a hard time seeing her arms through the smoke cloud that wrapped her arms.

Runir's timing with his barriers was incredible. He was able to cast it just as they were about to be hit. On the other hand, It was hard to gauge Tom's improvement since they didn't see much of his abilities before the rampage.

They spent two days fighting around the city in the Caverns. During that time, Hera kept trying to figure out how to make the mana projection. It was hard to make an object out of thin air. The mana kept dispersing since it had nothing to hold it together. She tried to coat her weapons with the mana and then split it, but the shape would break just the same. However, while covering her chakram with mana and trying to pull it away, she managed to pull it to the side using only her mana.

She started to test that idea while the weapon had the mana reinforcement buff. After several tries, Hera figured out a way to make her mana work almost like a propulsion system. Making small bursts, as if she was emptying an oxygen tank in space, she could move the chakram around. That would increase mana cost of the buff by a lot, but as she practiced it, it became clear that she would be able to use the wire trap style without having to control the thread directly.

After a couple of days, Hera had some information to share with Helena. The moles had smell, earth, and blind affinities, which seemed to vary even among the same types of moles. The only difference that Hera noticed was in the skills that they used. The ones with blind affinity were more perceptive than others at close range, while the ones with smell affinity were more elusive. The ones with the earth affinity had stronger hide and claws.

After everyone got their gear and took it for a spin, the group talked about what they could do and since Hera wanted to find one of the MAZE's secrets while Alex had to kill a named monster. Thomas had one suggestion.

”We could attempt one of the dungeons in this room. I am familiar with one that might have what two among us are searching for.”

”What's the dungeon like?” Blue asked.

”It is a cave, as one is to expect. It is a place filled with fungi and elemental spirits. They are sneaky little creatures that are very difficult to hit. That is a great tool to increase our accuracy. In there, I know of both a named monster that our silent assassin can attempt to kill at once and a secret that could help our brave adventurer.”

”Ok, I'm in. Is there anything else we need to be on the lookout for while there?” Alex asked.

”Our maps will not work until the boss has fallen. The glowing mushrooms lit up the entire area, and as they change colors, the paths are hidden or revealed. Not just that, but the lights make seeing the spirits something very difficult. People tend to refer to this dungeon by a different name because of this,” Thomas explained.

”Stop being cryptic, man. What name?” Runir asked.

”The proper name is Underground Forest, but it is more commonly known as Mushroom Rave,” Tom said with a smile.