Nest

During the next week, Hera's schedule changed. In the afternoons, they would keep doing the hard mode of the dungeon. They figured out that using the whistle would make the griffons all gather in the same place, allowing them to speed up the runs. One of the major benefits of doing the hard mode, aside from the experience, was how quickly they could finish it. Unlike the regular mode, which took anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, they could finish the hard mode in just 45 minutes and bring enough chicken to compare with what would take 2 hours in the regular version of the Wooly Plains. Another benefit was the possibility of getting more cores. It still didn't happen, but since the Scavenger Ruler dropped one, it was likely that it could drop again.

Hera, Blue, and Silah would walk around the mines during the night, trying to find the path to the nest. Silah was more or less familiar with the area, but she only knew about the lower tunnels. The mines were a large hole close to the lake on the west side of town. It looked like a miniature coal mine, split into several layers and tunnels, all heading in the palace's direction. The lake was directly to the left of the mine, giving Hera an uncomfortable feeling of being by a dam. It was a good thing that there were no waves in the water. Otherwise, water would end up falling inside the pit. Thinking about paths above the mine, a couple of tunnels in the upper layers were rarely used since the ores inside those paths weren't that great. So Hera and the others tried to find the way towards the nest by going inside the tunnels.

A few guards would patrol the area. After some time, a couple of them would be stationed by the mines to watch over the lake and ensure that no one had an unfortunate end during a late-night swim. This meant that Hera and the others had only a small window of opportunity to search for the path during each night. If they took longer, they would risk having to explain what they were doing in there to Naka, and that wasn't something any of them were too keen to do.

On the fifth day, Hera used the Yarnball skill to locate a tunnel to the sky ruler nest. The thread pointed up and to the side, towards a trail outside the mine that could lead up and around the lake. It looked like a very narrow path, and she had no idea how far it would go. After showing it to Silah and Blue, they checked the time. It was still early, and if they wanted, they could try to use that trail, as long as it wasn't too lengthy.

"Silah, do you know how to swim?" Hera asked.

"I do, but why?"

"Because if we fall there, we will end up in the lake. It's probably going to hurt, but if you know how to swim It's less dangerous. I think," Hera replied

"What about you?" Blue asked.

"I can swim. You can too, right?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't convince my family to go to a beach in Brazil if I couldn't swim," Blue smiled.

"So, let's try this path?" Hera asked.

"Yeah, it should be there. I mean, it has all the things a hidden path would have, a place hidden in plain sight with a treacherous path, and it has that feel of 'I'm hiding something,' you know?" Blue added.

"I agree. Let's move, but if we take too long, we head back to avoid the guards. We have 20 minutes," Hera explained before going towards the path. Hera and Silah went in front. They did their best to be careful, but the trail seemed to crumble beneath their feet. More than once, they had to count on the help of someone else to avoid falling into the lake. It wouldn't be that bad going for a swim, since there were no rocks directly under them, but it was very likely that the guards would end up seeing that commotion.

To walk over that trail, they needed to be in a single file line, and Blue was the one taking up the rear. Unfortunately, that also meant that she was the one who had to walk around most of the broken path. Since it crumbled as Hera and Silah put their weight on the ground. Each step proved to be more complicated than the last, until she slipped and fell towards the lake. Silah was quick enough to grab the controller, but she also lost balance. Hera grabbed the dwarf by her waist and pulled her up with all her strength.

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

[All In] effects deactivated

The cooldown will now start.

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

Hera held back a grunt and pulled both up towards the path once more. They took a moment to gather themselves and kept going. Another 10 minutes went by, and the trio reached close to the middle of the lake. In the wall, there was a new tunnel. This seemed to be a natural formation, and not something that was carved out from the rocks. Hera jumped inside and helped Silah and Blue enter.

"This has to be it. Let's take a look around and rush back. If we take too long, Naka will end up finding out," Blue looked back outside to confirm that the guard was still on patrol.

"I will end up finding out about what?" A voice rang from deeper into the tunnel. Hera turned towards the sound and saw Naka emerging from a side passage in the tunnel with a floating light orb that illuminated the path following her. The captain stared at the three women in front of her, "You took longer than I expected. Aren't explorers supposed to be good at finding things?"

Hera didn't know how to answer. She completely forgot about the dowsing rod ability of her relic. If it wasn't for that, she could probably have found this passage sooner. Before figuring out a comeback, Blue turned to the captain.

"Where did you come from?"

"I took the side passage. The way you came from is too dangerous to travel, so we made a tunnel on the other side," Naka replied.

"So… I almost fell for no reason?"

"Yes."

Blue huffed and crossed her arms while Hera just tried to calm her friend down.

"Ok, and are you going to stop us from going to the nest?" Hera asked.

"I won't. I know a lost cause when I see one. Unless I let you pass, I have to come back here every night like I've been doing this past week. But I won't allow my blacksmith to be in danger for no reason. I'm going with you to protect her," Naka said.

"I can protect her just fine," Hera huffed, getting closer to Silah.

"Hera… don't take this the wrong way, but if I'm going to be in danger, I would feel safer with the captain by my side," Silah held Hera's hand.

"Not to mention, you have no idea what I'm going to be protecting her from. If I let you three go alone, she will end up getting hurt," Naka started walking up the tunnel. Then, after moving a few meters forward, she turned around, "Are you not coming?"

"We don't have our gear. We might want to check the nest, but we are not crazy enough to go there unarmed," Hera replied.

"We can come back tomorrow, but since you are already here, you should at least see the entrance," Naka turned back to the tunnel.

"What's so interesting about the entrance?" Blue followed Naka.

"You'll see," the captain replied as she walked up.

The four moved forward through the steep tunnel. In a way, it was almost like a very long staircase. By Hera's assumption, it should take a long time to reach the nest. When she carried Blue down the mountain, it took a couple of hours to arrive in the city. However, that was counting all the winding paths she had to take to avoid any places where they could fall to their deaths, and Blue couldn't walk properly. Since, this time, no one would carry someone else, walking all the way to the top should be much faster.

Ten minutes went by, then twenty, then thirty. It was such a boring route that the group relaxed and kept talking about nothing in particular. Even the captain seemed less closed off than normal and joined in the conversation. They mostly talked about their past and how things changed with time.

"Oh. That's like when my high school set up a whole culture-sharing event. It was a mess. There were people from all over the world talking about their customs and stuff like that, but it was too much. I get why they tried that theme, but they should've split by continents or something. The food was amazing, though. It was the first time I got gyoza and pad thai," Blue said.

"I have no idea what those foods are, and the names are weird," Silah replied.

"Oh, gyoza is like a dumpling with meat or other fillings. You know those stuffed pastries? It's kind of like that, at least the concept is. The taste is completely different," Blue explained.

"And pad thai is… fried noodles with chicken, right? So if we get some oil, we might be able to make something similar," Hera made a note on her tablet.

"I thought you two wouldn't tell anyone about the outside world until we opened the doorway," Naka cut them off.

"Silah is the only person I told. I didn't want to start a relationship with a lie," Hera defended her decision.

"That's hardly a good motive to break a promise to the king, but knowing how lenient he is, I doubt you two would be punished in any way even if I told him," Naka sighed.

Silah knew Hera wasn't supposed to talk about some things, but she never imagined that Rutigan was responsible for the rule. Understanding that the human was willing to go against the king just for her made Silah blush. She never imagined that someone would go to such lengths for her.

"Is that how you talk about your king, captain?" Hera asked. She was already tired from all Naka's hostility.

"Just because Rutigan is my king, it doesn't mean I have to agree with everything he does. But, unfortunately, he makes enough mistakes that warrant my doubts. It's a shame he didn't inherit his father's wisdom," Naka sighed.

"Why? He seems pretty wise and open-minded," Blue asked.

"He is. I admit, however, he is too quick to change his mind. As a result, even the culture we worked so hard to create is cast aside after something new appears. The festival at the end of each month is proof of that. You two have been here for some time. Tell me, when did something appear at the festival a second time? A song, a painting, anything."

Hera's mind went back to the big parties that were hosted once a month in the city. There were many dresses, foods, drinks, songs, presentations, and a bunch of other things, but there was never a second round. It didn't matter how amazing a dessert was or how beautifully performed a song was. At the next festival, everything had to be new. Or at least that's what Fethy and the King said during one of their meetings. They said that this was a way to celebrate the new culture they had, but there was nothing to celebrate the culture they already had gathered.

"I… can't think of anything," Hera replied.

"Me neither," Silah had a surprised expression.

"Same. I'm drawing a complete blank," Blue added.

"Exactly. His father valued what we already had. King Rutigan values that which we do not have," Naka stopped walking, "We are here. Look."

The tunnel in front of the captain turned to the right before leading to an opening completely obscured by a thick layer of mist. The area itself was larger than the trail they used to get here. Instead of allowing only two people to walk at once, here, the four had more than enough space to move around and even fight if they wished to. A cold feeling came from the fog, and the cave seemed to have more light than usual, as if the sunlight was hitting the mist from outside.

"Ok, is this the nest?" Blue asked.

"It's beyond that mist. However, we are unable to cross that," Naka made her light go towards the fog. The moment the small point of light got close, it was swept away as it had hit a hurricane, "If I touch that, the same thing will happen," Naka said.

"Really? Even you will lose your arm like that?" Blue asked.

"I won't lose an arm, but I will get seriously injured. It will be enough to put me out of commission for a few weeks," Naka stared at her left hand with a pained expression.

"So… How do we test if we can go through?" Blue asked.

"Let me try a spell," Hera used a dancing light and sent it towards the mist. Unlike the one that Naka created, Hera's spell went inside without an issue.

"So… are we good?" Blue asked.

Hera walked over and touched the mist with her pinky. There was a bit of a humid feeling, but aside from that, nothing happened. Then, feeling more confident, she put her entire hand inside. That gave the same result. As the last test, Hera took one step inside the fog, being completely covered by it. In the end, everything seemed fine. Before anything else, Blue also tested if she could cross the mist. She could enter the fog without an issue, meaning that both could easily enter the Sky Ruler nest if they came here.

"I believe that answer the question then. Tomorrow I'll ask Lerynn, Totrak, and Ogryn to join us. We'll stay in the normal mode of the wooly plains not to tire you two too much," Naka said.

"Why Ogryn?" Hera asked.

"He is very proficient at giving you elemental buffs. Although he wasn't going to join the dungeon runs, his buffs are nothing to scoff at," the captain replied before going back to the tunnel. They still had a long way to get back to their houses.