103 The diference between tests

Hera walked forward carefully. She was walking for around five minutes in the jungle. Finally, she found something moving. It looked like a short, hairy humanoid creature. Hera picked her tablet to look for any types of monkeys that were among her notes.

The moment the tablet screen came to light, a loud roar echoed through the jungle. Hera looked around and saw the monkeys rushing towards her. She turned around and ran, but every place she tried to hide or to run to was filled with more of the creatures.

Less than seven minutes after Hera left the reception, she was teleported back.

"Hey, kid. Bad luck?" Peaches asked with a playful smile.

"Do you know anything?" Hera asked as she got up from the floor.

"Maybe. Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah, why did everything come at me the second I went to look at my tablet?"

"Because it's a test of your skills. Not what you can write down."

Hera squinted while staring at peaches, "So I can't use my tablet?"

"Not inside there, kid."

"What about other things?"

"Like?"

"Bandages, waterskin, weapons, my relic."

"Those you can, a weapon is needed, of course. Water and bandages are fine too. Your relic is part of the reason why the test is harder," Peaches explained.

"Right, and how can I tell what my target is? There were so many monkeys, but I couldn't see anything different in any of them."

"That's because there isn't anything unique among them. The creature you need to find is the only one that is from another kind."

Hera considered it for a moment. The shadow that was killed in the video was different than the rest. It was good that she needed only to worry about two types of monsters.

"Oh yeah, another thing. Why do people say it gets harder? If I rush to get the role skills, I could get them all right?" Hera asked.

"In theory, yeah. But there are some restrictions. First, you can't get more than one extra role skill at the same level. You, for instance, need to reach level four before getting a new quest. Second, the related skill needs to be higher than the last skill you used to get the quest."

"You lost me there. What do you mean?" Hera asked.

"What skill triggered your quest?"

"Hide, it reached rank 2, and then I got the quest."

"So the next role-related skill needs to be at least at rank 3 for the quest to trigger. So if your hide ranks to 4, the other skill needs to get to 5."

"Ok... so that only applies to the last role that I got? So if after this I get fury or something, only the fury will be the limiter?"

"That's right, kid. Don't ask me why, but that is how it works."

Hera nodded, considering those restrictions. It made sense that people never got too many of the skills. The only way to do it would be to get the skills and ignore it to make it lower level. But that seemed very wasteful.

"Ok, so no tablet. I have to rely on my memory. Let's try this again," Hera cleaned the small amount of dirt and leaves out of her clothes and walked to the door, "See you in the next reception," she told peaches before leaving the room once more.

"Whatever you say, kid," Peaches chuckled.

Hera left the reception, going once more through the woods. Moving a bit faster this time, Hera already knew she was dealing with a jungle filled with baboons. According to the screens' information, they were creatures that used most of their senses at once, much like humans. That also meant that their senses weren't particularly sharp. She could take advantage of that.

Hiding in the bushes and behind trees, Hera made her way through the jungle, trying to find the shadow that matched her target. It wasn't as hard as she imagined to avoid the monkeys, but more than once, she had to jump into a large bush and wait for the creatures to move away.

After around twenty minutes, Hera found a creature much larger than the others. A two-meter tall silverback gorilla was sitting in front of a fallen tree.

The beast seemed distracted. Hera took advantage of that and sneaked towards it. She was trying to remember where was its weak spot. Unsure, Hera went back to the same routine she had while fighting the frogs. A swift strike in the back of the head. She got closer to the creature and swung her handaxe towards her target. The weapon impacted the monster's skull, and in response, the gorilla swung its arm around, hitting Hera on the side of her body. She went flying to the side with the impact and hit her back on the reception walls.

"Back again?" Peaches asked.

"That.. really... hurt," Hera coughed, trying to catch the air that escaped her lungs after the impact.

"Yeah, you need to do it in one go, kid. Or be quick enough to avoid everything else."

After a few moments, Hera got up, "So I can still pass even if I don't kill in one strike?"

"Not all assassinations are done in a single move. Sometimes things go wrong."

"Fair enough. Let me try again," Hera took a moment to analyze the gorilla's information, to understand its weakness.

According to the screen, it would be hard to kill it through a strike on the head. The skull was too thick to be pierced by her handaxe. Her best bet would be to make it bleed out.

Feeling a bit more confident, Hera went through the doors once more. She followed the same path that she did the last time, hoping her target would still be in the same place.

Hera had to avoid more baboons than the last time. A few groups seemed to be patrolling more intensely, but after 10 minutes, she arrived at the place where she found the silverback gorilla. The beast was still there, sitting in the same position he was before. The cut on its head now was gone.

Hera moved closer, trying to get a good angle on the beast's neck. However, the monster raised both its arms and fell backward, rolling around for a few moments while making loud noises.

With the monster lying on its back, Hera rushed towards it and slashed at the creature's neck, hoping to cut an artery. The gorilla attempted to move away, but he wasn't fast enough. The handaxe cut clean through the side of its neck.

Yet, this wasn't enough to kill the creature. It raised from the ground and dashed towards Hera, who dodged and ran back into the jungle. She could see the red stream covering the monster's torso, but the creature was in a frenzy.

Its noise was attracting the baboons from the area. Hera needed to be careful not to get ambushed by them. She dove behind a tree and started moving around, doing her best not to make any noise. She attempted to hide once more.

She climbed up a tree and hid between the branches. The silverback was too focused on the floor. If she managed to be long enough without anything hitting her, the monster would die.

The gorilla kept flaying around on the ground, swinging its arms towards everything. The monster started to get closer to the tree where Hera was. She looked around and attempted to jump to a different tree. However, she failed to see the three baboons that were hidden among the branches.

When she landed on the tree, the baboons jumped on Hera. She let go of the branch before they could reach her, but as she fell to the ground, the gorilla turned towards her. The creature seemed to be moving slower, and it was struggling to stay awake. The silverback rushed towards Hera, but it fainted before it was able to attack. Its body fell toward Hera. She tried to dodge, but the tree was in the way. Unfortunately, the silverback's body crashed on Hera, sending her back to the reception.

"Shit!"

"Made a mistake, kid?" Peaches asked, seeing the explorer on the floor once more.

"Yeah… sorry for the outburst. I managed to kill it, but the body fell on top of me this time," Hera explained, lying down on the floor.

"Don't worry about it, kid. The last explorer I helped cursed like a sailor. Although, I'm not sure if that saying still holds true. And you got really close, nicely done."

"Close would mean I'm dead. I need to get it right," Hera let out a long sigh, "Oh, and the thing about the sailors is still a saying. Not sure if it's true, but people still say that."

"Good, I'm not that old then," Peaches smiled.

"How old are you, by the way?"

Peaches stared at Hera, "It's rude to ask a guide about their age."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know," Hera looked down.

Peaches started laughing, "I'm just messing with you, kid. I honestly have no idea. We don't keep track."

"So, you don't celebrate birthdays?"

"Kid, you only have 24 hours here. Actually, it's closing into 23 now. Are you sure you want to discuss that?" Peaches asked.

"Well, I have no idea when I'll see you again. So yeah, I kind of do."

Peaches chuckled, "Fair enough. I'll be quick. We don't celebrate birthdays, but we have a small party every time someone calls us. Well... most of us. I get mine when I give the skill to someone. Some guides though it was a good incentive to have more explorers. In the end, nothing changed. They don't get how I need to be careful."

"Oh, so it really is up to you?"

"100%, kid. I'm the judge and jury. But honestly, my rule is just don't be a greedy dick. You would be surprised how many people fail on that."

Hera nodded, "Honestly, I think I get it. Most people suck."

"I'm surprised to hear you say that. You seemed more open during your explorer quest."

"I like you, and the simulations were simulations. Why would I be mean to them?" Hera explained.

"So, you would act like that with everyone that is not people?"

"Probably, until they show that they suck just as much."

Peaches laughed, "Fair point. More people should live by those rules. Now stop wasting time and get out of here."

Hera laughed and moved towards the door, headed out. Once more, after the silverback gorilla. This time the monster wasn't at the same stop. Hera spent another ten minutes walking around looking for trackings or marks until she found the beast.

This time Hera didn't wait as long. She sneaked up behind the gorilla and jumped at its back, slashing its neck at the same time. The cut went deep, and a river or red covered its torso. The monster started to gasp for air while Hera held it in place. This time, she managed to open a large gash on its throat. In a few moments, the silverback went limp. Hera let go of the beast, and when the body hit the floor, it turned into shadows and vanished.

Right in front of her, a door appeared. It wasn't connected to anything, and even if Hera looked behind it, she could only see the doorframe. Opening it, she found a reception almost precisely like the one before. The one difference was the color. The first entrance was painted in a soft blue. This had a light yellow tone.

"Hey, kid. Congratulations on passing the first part," Peaches was sitting on the desk the same way Hera left him in the first reception.

"Thanks, how many are there?" Hera walked to the door on the back, the one that leads to the bathroom.

"I can't tell you that. But I'll let you know when you are done."

"Well, I hope so. It would be really mean to let me keep going while I was already done," Hera walked in the rest area, drank some water, and used the bathroom before going back and checking the screens.

This time, she would be in a sprawling cavern. Several small shadows hid on the walls and ceiling, but the target was a long creature, almost like a snake. Hera looked at the screens and attempted to memorize all the information about the monsters.

Feeling confident in her information, Hera opened the door and headed inside the cave. Even with her hide active, her footsteps echoed through the tunnels. The only way to stop the noise was to crawl on all fours, but that would make her waste too much time.

After a couple of moments, Hera kicked a pebble by accident. The noise echoed through the cavern. Hera held her breath, hoping it wasn't enough to warn the monsters. A few seconds passed, and nothing seemed to be coming towards her. As she started to move once again, she noticed that the wind seemed to be picking up.

It didn't take long for her to realize that the sound wasn't the wind, but the sound of dozens of tiny wings approaching. Hera tried to hide as best as she could in the open tunnel, but soon she was swarmed by bats. Hera crouched down, waiting to be attacked, and suddenly the noise stopped.

Raising her head, she was once again in the blue reception, with Peaches sitting on the desk.

"Hey, kid. Bad luck?" Peaches asked with a playful smile.