How many runs does it take?

"How many does that make?" Blue was starfishing on the ground.

"I lost count a week ago," Bonnie looked up and saw another party getting close to them heading to the dungeon's entrance, "At least put your arms by your body. You are bothering people like that."

"Yes, mom," Blue moved closer to the bench.

"Are you sure there is a third Boss?" Alex turned to Tom.

"That I am. My memory never failed me when the subject is a dangerous foe," Tom took a sip of his water, "If you all wish for a change of scenery, may I suggest the labyrinth?"

"No, dude. You may not. You talk about that place every day. Honestly, even if I wanted to go there, I wouldn't go now out of spite," Runir stared at Tom.

"I didn't expect anything else from the master of malice," Tom scoffed.

"Let it go, man. I told you I didn't see the note until I was doing the dishes."

"Then you might need to have your vision checked for damage, my friend. For the note was in front of the fridge. That was the last piece of pie my sister made. She only makes said pie…" Tom kept waving his finger towards Runir as if he was scolding a child but got interrupted mid-sentence.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. She only makes the pie once a year during her daughter's birthday. It's a special treat made with cinnamon-sugar crust, brown butter filling, and cranberry glaze that reminds you of a simpler time where everything was candy, sugar, and fucking rainbows. You told me that fifty times already. Change the tune. That one is old," Runir scoffed.

"And you have yet to apologize for such heinous transgression."

"I told you I'm sorry!"

"Your words mean nothing. Prove your feeling through your actions."

"What? Do you want me to bake the damn thing?"

The duo kept bickering. It wasn't just the pie. The group spent the last three weeks coming to the dungeon every day to face the Underground Forest's third boss, but had no luck so far. They became more and more interested as Hera and Bonnie discussed what the Light of the Forest and the Tree Mother mentioned in the story could be. If beings existed that helped create the MAZE, could they be a hint to discover what the MAZE actually is?

That was a question that every single person on the planet had thought about at some point in their lives. Having some actual clue gave the entire team a rush. The harder it got to find the boss, the more they believed that to be true, and the more frustrated they became.

"Should we stop them?" Alex turned to Hera, who didn't reply, "Hera?"

"Oh, what? Sorry. I was reading a text," She replied.

Runir got up and stormed off towards the chemical toilet on the side of the cliff. Thankfully, unlike the standard version, they had a mana fueled self-cleaning system. As long as someone was willing to charge it up now and then, everyone going to the dungeon could use it without fear of finding a mess. Recharging it was something all were willing to do. After camping outside, small luxuries such as an actual toilet became much more impressive.

"Nevermind," Alex replied, "What's the text about?"

"Remember Amanda?" Hera asked.

Alex thought for a moment, "The girl who got sick with the oranges?"

"That's the one. She turned 18 a while back but went to the guild last week. Apparently, she has a very rare skill called 'Condense Mana,' it's like she has two storages of mana inside her body, and the condensed version can make stronger effects. Anyway, she got accepted into the guild and just started her training. She texts me about any doubts she has or just to say how cool something is," Hera explained with a soft smile. It was nice seeing Amanda doing well, especially after seeing her almost overdose because of the bad oranges filled with mana.

"Oh, are we going to have a new member?" Blue asked without getting up.

"I doubt it. Amanda was always very independent, but I might give her some pointers and help out once in a while. Besides, we can barely take care of ourselves," Hera locked the tablet and placed it in the holster by her waist, "So, what was going on?"

"Tom and Runir are fighting over the pie again," Alex replied.

"It's not just some pie. It is the most delicious and exquisite delicacy of all time, and that rapscallion took it from me," Tom interjected.

"So basically, you two are fighting because you are both bad roommates?" Bonnie's tone made it seem like that wasn't a question.

"How could you accuse me of such a thing?"

"Yesterday, Runir was complaining how you never do the dishes and leaves your dirty clothes lying on the floor, making the entire room smell. The way I see it, both of you are to blame."

All of Bonnie's words were the truth, leaving Tom with no room to argue. A couple of minutes later, Runir returned with a cooler head. He took his roommate to the side and spent about fifteen minutes talking before returning to the group.

"Ok, so two things. First, sorry for the last run, everyone. I messed up more barriers than I should have," Runir said.

"Our constant squabbling also was a severe distraction for both you and ourselves. I apologize for that as well," Tom added.

"We all have off days. Everything is fine. Besides, we've been doing this for so long that we can do the dungeon blindfolded," Alex said, trying to improve the mood, but her remark only reminded them all how unsuccessful they were.

"I kind of feel bad for making you all keep doing this. I know everyone is frustrated," Hera said.

"It wasn't just your idea. Everyone agreed to it, and we are all curious about what those spirits are," Blue replied.

"Yeah, but we might not even get more information, actually, after thinking about it. I'm sure there will be nothing else to discover here. If that was something easy to find out, people would know about it already," Hera explained.

"What if this is the kind of secret that people protect? Like, they know if more people find out it would be bad?" Alex suggested.

"Could be, or no one could have any clue, or it could be nothing. Just a story created by the system to make the dungeons seem more alive. Either way, I think we might have spent too much time on this. Bonnie was talking about a dungeon room nearby that I think might be a nice change of pace for us," Hera said.

"You mean the kobold room? Yeah, that does seem interesting. The entire room is made of only a small settlement by a mountain and the dungeon. The best thing is that there is an actual sky and fresh air too. It can rain, and we can even see the stars. Its doorway is right here too."

"It does sound nice. I miss the sky, the actual sky," Runir said.

"So, here is my idea. We finish today's runs since we are already here. Then, finding the boss or not, we go to the next room tomorrow," Hera suggested.

"Would that work? I mean, we are not going over the number of doorways we can cross each day, are we?" Blue asked.

"No, we are hitting the limit. We can cross four times before risking getting the locked debuff. But that won't be an issue. The dungeon is supposed to take two days to complete," Bonnie confirmed.

"So we sleep inside the dungeon?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I didn't get a full compendium for it, but from what I gather, the dungeon is like a big battle, and we can sleep inside the camp of an army. A lot of people were recommending that dungeon if you are low on cash. There we can have a safe place to sleep and three meals during the day."

"May I suggest we attempt the labyrinth before heading towards this new place?" Tom suggested.

"No! You may fucking not. I told you I'm not doing that one. You want to face the damn minotaur go alone for all I care," Runir replied.

"Ok, kids, you just made up, let's not forget that," Alex stopped the two, "How about this, we can check the new room and maybe after we can do the labyrinth, ok?"

"Fine," Runir crossed his arms.

"Ok, so let's do this one for the rest of the day. We can take the money we made here to upgrade our gear before heading to the other room. It will be in the third layer, right?" Hera turned to Bonnie.

"Actually, no. It's still going to be in the second layer. It's like we are moving sideways and not forward."

"Oh, that's even better. It means we are already set up for it, but we should see if there are any things we could improve anyway," Runir nodded.

"I like that idea. Staying inside a cave was starting to get to me," Blue said.

"Same here. I really want to stop having to wear these mushroom sunglasses," Alex took off her glasses.

"Is it still giving you trouble?" Hera asked.

"It's not something that goes away with time," Alex sighed.

There was a moment of pause before Blue got up, slapping her tights, "Ok then. Are we finishing the day or going back to take a break?"

"I'm up for doing a few more runs today and heading to the other room after a break," Alex got up, following Blue's example

"Same here," Runir nodded.

"I agree. Giving up now would feel like we are running away. Let's at least finish the day," Bonnie said.

Having agreed with a course of action, the entire group headed back to the dungeon. During the last weeks, Runir reached level 7 while Alex and Blue had reached level 6. Bonnie still had the lowest level, but now, at level 5, the difference between her strength and the monsters they faced was close to nonexistent. The team now had a much better understanding of each other's abilities. Thanks to that, each run felt much easier. Although there were still some cuts and bruises. During a fight against the Light of the Forest, Blue got splattered in the liquid light. The heat was enough to give her some burns, but thanks to Runir's quick healing and the barrier, there weren't any lasting effects, aside from singed eyebrows that had yet to fully grow back.

After counting their expenses with food and mana potions for Runir and Bonnie, they had each gathered around 20 thousand gold during those three weeks. During a run where both Alex and Tom got severe burns on their arms from being hit by the rays that the Light of the Forest used, they all agreed to share the potions' cost. Hera had already given up on being surprised by the amount of money she made. She knew it would only get crazier in the future.

During the day, they faced the Light of the Forest two more times and the Amalgamation once. Sadly, there was no sign of the third and last boss. Still, they all agreed that repeating this dungeon over and over while not getting what they wanted was too frustrating. Even Hera was a bit snippy during the last few days.

Before heading back home, they split up to look for better gear. Now they could spend some actual money. They even could, if they wanted, order the same armor that Hera was using. This made her realize two things. First, the reward from the Wendigo she hunted alone wasn't as incredible as she first thought. Second, she could be looser with her money. If she could make so much in less than a month, she could afford to spend more, both on her equipment and with herself. The shops only closed at ten, and she could still make an order in the guild, although it would take some days. Having decided what she was looking for, Hera and the girls entered the first workshop. It was time to find a new weapon.