Photoshoot

After the sprites left the cave, all the mushrooms lost their glow. It wasn't like after they defeated the Sprite Amalgamation, then the lights were just reduced to a bearable brightness. Now the entire forest was in pitch-black darkness. If it wasn't for the light spell that Hera, Bonnie, and Tom were using, they wouldn't even be able to see the ground under their feet.

"So... do all dungeons change like this when we trigger the hard mode?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. It's the first time I activated one," Runir stumbled on a small mushroom but managed to catch himself before falling.

"Don't get too excited," Blue joked.

"It's these damn mushrooms. I didn't notice there were so many of them around the floor."

"What about you, Tom?" Hera asked from the back.

"I was a part of expeditions into two separated dungeons where our foes had increased strength. It was a harrowing experience. Thankfully, we prevailed. The innocent turtles were reunited with their bloodline."

Bonnie moved closer to Hera, "What did he just say?"

"I think he's talking about that dungeon where you save the baby turtles back in Brinefront and that he beat the hard mode," Hera replied with confidence but turned to Runir for a confirmation.

"That's what he said. You are getting good at that," Runir nodded.

Tom frowned, "I do not appreciate being treated as a being from beyond the stars."

"I mean, you kind of ask for it. You can't complain when you are a breath away from speaking a lost language," Blue said.

When they completed the dungeon, there was nothing left to do inside of it. According to Tom, hidden paths would become blocked if they were not discovered before completing the quest. It was a shame since Hera couldn't see the secret that Tom knew about.

"So what is the plan? Are we trying to beat the Hard mode?" Blue asked.

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea. I mean, they are supposed to be very hard, right?" Hera said.

"Yeah, like the angel said. We shouldn't rush things," Alex nodded.

"Angel?" Hera asked.

Without looking back, Alex just pointed up. Hera had placed her light spell above her head as they walked. That way, no one would block the light as they moved around. One odd thing she noticed was that now her spell had a slight golden tint to it. Close to the color of the Light of the Forest's body. The change resulted in a single side effect. Now Hera was constantly bathed in a golden light.

"You know, she's not wrong," Bonnie said after taking a few steps to the side, getting a better look.

"Haha, very funny," Hera rolled her eyes.

"No, no, we are right," Alex poked Blue with her elbow, "do the thing with your arms and make some smoke around her."

"Yeah! Can anyone make some wings?" Bonnie said.

"C'mon guys, cut it out," Hera started walking again.

"Awww, don't be like that. When are we going to have such a perfect moment for a photo? Let me take that one, pleeeeaaaseee," Alex pulled Hera's arm.

After some insistence, Hera gave in, and the group mounted a photoshoot. Tom and Runir seemed to be less interested in the idea, but even they helped out. After around 20 minutes and countless pictures taken, it became too much for Hera.

"Ok, we are done. Let's get the hell out of this place!" she commanded and started walking once more towards the entrance.

"I must agree. As much as I enjoyed the photographs, we must move on, or we won't have enough time for another attempt to clear the dungeon," Tom followed Hera's lead.

"Ok, ok. Let me send the photos to the group app. I'll put some effects on them later," Alex kept her tablet on hand while the group walked.

Hera had to deactivate her light since she was almost out of mana, but with Tom's and Bonnie's, it was still more than enough to see the path they were taking. Hera kept walking in a huff. She never enjoyed taking pictures of herself and being used as a prop didn't help. Still, they were her friends, and she knew they weren't trying to make fun of her. After ten minutes or so, Hera's mood improved. Bonnie was running out of mana, so the two swapped positions. Hera placed the light above her shoulder this time. If there was some shadow, she couldn't do anything about it, but it was better than having people calling her an angel again.

"Tom, can you keep the light there while we all gather here?" Bonnie asked, making them all stop.

"I am able to do so, yes. But may I inquire the reason?"

"I want to take a picture."

"Another one? Don't you guys get tired?" Hera sighed.

"I wanted a group photo. The light is amazing here, and it's more fun to have a dungeon in the background."

Hera accepted the idea even though she couldn't stand taking another picture. They gathered in front of Tom's dancing lights and let them be in the background while Hera's light spell bathed them all in the slightly golden light. She had to recast the spell to get a better position, but it wasn't much of an issue. Bonnie made an ice fist on the ground and used it as a stand for her tablet while setting up the timer. Blue walked closer to Hera and whispered.

"Sorry for the pictures. I know you hate that, but you looked so cool."

Hera sighed, "It's fine. When it became too much, I walked off. I can do something that I don't like as long as I'm with friends."

"Does that mean you would come to a club with us?" Blue asked with a smile.

"Don't push it… but maybe."

"All set!" Bonnie rushed towards the group.

A few moments passed, and the camera took two pictures, one with a flash and one without it. As Bonnie picked up her tablet to show the picture to everyone, Hera kept staring at the ice fist on the ground.

"I think I'm forgetting something…" she mumbled.

Bonnie showed the picture to everyone. Hera's light worked as a spotlight illuminating the group and their armor, while Tom's revealed the mushrooms in the background. It wasn't a professionally lit photo, but the result was excellent. Hera noticed that the dancing lights made the green tones of the mushrooms pop.

"That's it!" Hera gasped, "Bonnie. That spiky fist that you sometimes make, what is its element?"

"It's electric. Why?" Bonnie stared at Hera with a confused expression.

"Do you have any idea why two or even three people would have the same element appearing in different colors?" Hera asked.

"I don't. Why? Is that paralyze thing electric?"

"Yeah. I was trying to figure out why it looks different. If it's just because of the user or the color has something to do with something."

Bonnie passed her tablet to the rest of the group while she and Hera talked, "Do you have any idea what it could be? What could change?"

"Not really. But for instance, my poison spells come out orange, while others are green. When I was trying to get the paralyze spell, the trainer's version was yellow too. Blue also has a spell that deals with electricity, but it is well… blue."

"I'm going to need to look that up. Someone else must have realized this. But yeah, it is weird. Can I see the spell? Maybe there is something that gives us a hint."

"Sure," Hera pulled up her spellbook app and opened the description of the spell she transcribed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paralyze

Creates a projectile that can paralyze a living target for a few moments. The time of the paralysis is based on the amount of mana spent and the target's resistance.

Range: 5 meters

Base mana cost: 55

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So aside from not working on undead or constructs, the description doesn't help with that," Bonnie said.

"It probably wouldn't affect robots, too," Hera said.

"Well, it's not like we can test it on one," Bonnie replied.

The rest of the group walked slowly to leave room for the two to talk. Tom and Alex didn't care about why the spells were different, while Runir and Blue had nothing to contribute to the conversation. After another 20 minutes, they finally reached the exit of the dungeon.

"Man, if the dungeons had exits by the boss, it would help a lot," Blue said as they emerged from the underground forest. Seeing the other dozen groups resting around the entrance.

"There are those dungeons that allow us to return more quickly. It is a shame this is not among them," Tom said as the group walked towards one of the free benches by the side of the entrance.

"So, what's next? We are doing this again, or you guys have other ideas?" Bonnie sat down on the floor.

"I think we can try this again. It's not like we had that much trouble beating the quest," Alex said.

"And that's exactly why we should try the hard mode. This one was too easy," Blue chimed in.

"Blue, I almost killed Alex here. And we didn't even clear the entire dungeon. I think the hard mode is way too much for us," Hera said.

"Not to mention, we didn't even kill or damage the boss. We just made it run away," Alex said.

"I must agree. When we enter a dungeon's hard mode, it quickly becomes apparent the challenge it presents. At most, we would be able to face the first few groups before retreating," Tom turned to Alex, "A small correction, we were dealing damage to our foe. That creature is not able to bleed or show wounds that we can see," Tom explained.

"Let's not push it too much. Tom might be level 8, but the rest of us are level 5," Runir finished drinking from his water bottle, "Either way, we might need to head back. I'm almost out of water already."

"I have some more," Bonnie passed one of her spare bottles to Runir, "And a small correction. I'm still level 4."

"Besides, Hera and I still have a quest to do here," Alex said.

"That's true. I completely forgot about that. Think we can do it next time?" Hera turned to Tom.

"I would prefer if we hold on before challenging the named creature. It is not as strong as one of the bosses, but I can't say I know everything it is capable of. What I do know is that it can summon the other sprites from the dungeon. It is best to clear all the other creatures before heading towards it," Tom explained.

"So, what if we try to clear the other path? The one with a lot of monsters," Hera suggested.

Tom nodded, "It is a good way to confirm if we can face it and to neutralize that sprite's skill."

"Ok then, let's do it one more time!" Blue got up.

"Easy there, we should take a half-hour break at least. That is a really long walk," Runir said.

"But I'm…" before Blue could finish the sentence, she noticed that Bonnie had taken her boots off. They might have been fine with the constant march, but she was clearly not at the same pace. Blue cleared her throat, "Yeah, we should go in top condition."

The group rested, talking about the fight and celebrating that they were able to fight without getting seriously hurt. Half an hour later, they felt ready to try it once more, going through the shorter path.

As Tom said, the number of sprites on the way was several times greater than through the longer path. Instead of several groups, there was just a massive cluster that extended through the entire route. The group was continually fighting the monsters, pushing through step by step only when they cleared an entire area. About fifteen minutes later and close to 70 sprites destroyed, the group saw the path clearing with only some stragglers spread around the mushroom covered tunnel.

Another twenty minutes later, they were already in the rest area just before the boss. Their time was much better than when going through the central route. This time, the Sprite Amalgamation appeared. Being one boss that they all already had faced, they had a much better strategy for it. For one, Hera would avoid using her poison since it could trigger that thrashing that almost killed her.

Forty minutes later, the group emerged from the dungeon. They didn't have many issues during the fight, only a few minor bruises, and singes that could easily be treated by Runir in a few minutes.

"Ok, can we go back to the city? I'm starving," Blue said.

"Me too," Hera agreed as the indistinguishable smell of French fries hit her nose, "Hang on. What's that?"

Tom opened a big smile, "But, of course! I had completely forgotten about this grandiose venture," he walked closer to the edge of the cliff and gestured downward, "Let me present you the Traveling Stove."

Hera looked out of the cliff. Below the path, there was a large truck, almost the size of a trailer, with a line of people in front of it. There were a few picnic tables in front of it with a few people sitting down. Yet, what caught everyone's attention was the smell of junk food coming from it.

"Shall we have a meal?" Tom said as he went down the path.