Steps to danger

Hera and everyone ended up having to sleep in that tunnel. It wasn't that comfortable, and Ka'mal didn't let the Empress make her bunker, or a campfire for that matter. Even so, they had sleeping bags and still had some sandwiches that Flint packed. Since they were already in a safe place, Hera also awakened Dusa. She wanted to go through her entire court to see what skills they could have. The first different was the look of the diadem. It was still a metallic snake around her head, but it no longer was a perfect match to Hera's hair. It was more golden. The black gemstone in the head of the snake also changed. Now it showed a galaxy inside it. It was a subtle change, but it became much more regal. Next came the stats.

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

Dusa - Reflex

Diadem

Empress attributes: 99

Scaling

Agility x 10.5 Intelligence x 8 Charisma x 3

Endurance x 3 Luck x 3 Strength x 3

Viper's Gaze:

It can trigger a flash that only affects those looking directly at the user. Briefly reduces the movement of all those affected by the effect.

Duration 20 seconds

Cooldown 30 seconds:

Serpentine Reflexes:

Using a hidden blade, the diadem can block attacks aimed at the user.

If the blade is broken, this skill cannot be activated.

Seal of Reflection

Any attack blocked by this diadem has a slight chance of being reflected. Reflected attacks can stun those hit by them.

Reflect chance: 4%

Awakened:

The Scaling and Attributes are doubled.

All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half. 

Extra skill:

Serpent's Coil:

Dusa creates a spectral barrier around herself, protecting those inside it. The barrier can block attacks and spells from the outside while letting projectiles and other attacks coming from the inside to pass through it. Additionally, the barrier can trigger the Seal of Reflection with a 40% chance when blocking attacks, but it will reduce the power of the reflected attacks by 40%.

Duration: 5 minutes.

Cooldown: 6 hours.

Familiarity: 100%

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

Hera stared at the diadem with a surprised expression. She wasn't expecting much from any of these awakenings. Even if so far they all had been amazing. But the increase in the Seal of Reflection and that barrier were both very interesting. So far, the only 'oh shit' button she had was the earth elemental armor, and she really could use some things to help her survive dangerous situations. 

The Empress only did that late at night, when people were already asleep. Thankfully, Vulcan only had to touch its target to awaken it, so even in the silence of the tunnel, the skill didn't make any noise. Hera still was a bit distrustful of the Intelligence Agency. Maybe it was just because of the situation, maybe it was Forge's influence, or maybe she just watched too many spy movies with a double agent, but she simply couldn't believe that everyone in that place would be on her side. It might be unnecessary, and she truly hoped it was, but it was a way to calm her nerves, especially before bed.

After waking up, they still had to wait a couple of hours, since that was the schedule of the room. Twice a day, for about 20 minutes, they would unlock the room to allow for travel. Then, about 2 hours later, they would open the room again, to let the people who arrived to leave for their destination. It felt a bit excessive in a way, but at the same time, it was a good way to make sure no one invaded the shortcut. Furthermore, a sensor outside each doorway monitored every connecting room to ensure that the reported number of people aligned with the actual information provided by the teams. When it was finally time, the doorway started glowing, the same soft white glow that emanated from every single doorway. 

"Ok, let's move," Ka'mal gestured for the group to head in first. 

Hera walked over and touched the doorway.

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

Would you like to be transported to:

Underground Babel - 17th layer:

[Yes] [No]

Or press the button below for your private room:

[Enter your Private Room] 

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

"17th layer?" Hera turned around, "Is this safe for us?"

"Yeah. There are no monsters in that room. Don't go inside any of the dungeons, though. Those are very dangerous even for people who are higher level than the room itself," Luthvrol replied before transferring to the next room.

The Empress thought for a moment and nodded. Ka'mal and Emery were higher level than her, but the dwarf was still on at level 35. If he was confident enough to go without hesitating, the place should be safe enough. Pressing yes, she felt the familiar feeling of being submerged in warm water slowly cover her body. Closing her eyes to enjoy the sensation, she focused on it, trying to see if there was any mana involved in that process, but she couldn't feel anything of the sort. Whatever power transferred her from one room to the next didn't seem to be related to magic. Or at least, not a type of magic that she could detect, even with all of her mana sensitivity.

When her eyes opened again, she was in yet another tunnel, but this was wider. Much wider. Even a pack of elephants should be able to move around this place without worrying about getting stuck. A couple hundred meters in front of her was also something different. Looking towards that area, the Empress saw as the ground reached some stairs and then a large hole leading to a massive shaft that went on for several kilometers. The entire thing was lit up by artificial lights coming from magic lamps that floated in the central opening, flowing almost like following the course of a river. Around said shaft was a spiral staircase that moved in both directions, up and down. The staircase seemed almost like a natural formation, something that was created by the MAZE using the same type of stone as the tunnel itself. But there was a tall railing all around those stairs made of some kind of metal. 

"Be careful here. The steps are fine, but if you go over the edge you will have a few minutes to think about how much you messed up before reaching the bottom," Emery walked towards the staircase and started heading up.

"Can I fly through the middle?" Vash asked.

"It is possible, yes. But you need to warn people, or it needs to be an emergency. If you don't want to walk, just fly alongside us on the stairs. Telling people that someone is gong to fly would be too much of a hassle," Luthvrol replied.

"How far do we have to go?" Flint looked up, seeing only the endless stream of floating lamps vanishing into the darkness above.

"About 500 meters," Ka'mal sighed.

"That means…." Skyler looked up.

"Since we are not in a rush, we can take our time. We should be there in 15 minutes, since it's not a straight shot up," Emery replied.

The entire group groaned loudly. No one was happy about this, but they continued moving nonetheless. Hera thought about asking Nimbus, Livy, or anyone to come out and carry her for a while, but even if the spiral staircase was large, it wasn't large enough for one of her mounts.

Everyone moved ahead, passing by a few other groups who had their own destinations. The Underground Babel was more busy than Hera expected. Since this was a hidden room, she thought it would be just a place where a handful of people stayed on guard to open and close the place. Instead, with a quick glance, she was able to see around 30 people. Some going up, others going down. Everyone also seemed to be in high spirits. There was no tension in the place. It truly felt like one of the transition rooms. Like the Kobold Road. One thing she noticed was how the conversations were just casual. No one was talking about their mission, skills, items, or anything that could be potentially an issue. Instead, she could hear the types of conversations she would hear while on the train back on Earth. Harmless gossip about someone's clothes or a weird taste in food. Complaints about a game night. Talks about books, shows and music.

The group ended up stopping by one of the entrance leading to one doorway around 10 minutes after they started climbing the stairs. Roan, Neria, and Hera were mostly fine, even if their legs were starting to get tired. Skyler and Flint, on the other hand, were already suffering. Vash didn't count since he was flying. Everyone sort of expected that the elven controller would have some trouble. She could more or less run for a while, but she was the weakest amongst the Harmony Guardians in terms of stamina. The surprise was the dwarven crafter. Considering his job, and his combat style, everyone assumed that he could move around like the others, and yet, here he was almost begging to stop for a while.

"I have to ask, how are you so weak?" Roan said with a smirk.

"Yeah my ass, you punk! I just fucking hate stairs."

"Shouldn't you be used to staying on your feet?" Vash floated beside the dwarf. 

"Yes. Staying on my feet. Not walking up stairs. You want me to spend 12 hours in the same position hammering a piece of metal? I'll do that. But now climbing these fucking steps will kill me," Flint leaned against the wall.

"Is it really that bad? I can use something to help you with the muscle pain," Neria suggested.

"Nah, I'll manage," Flint replied.

"Is there a reason why you are not using your armor?" Hera tilted her head.

"What?" Flint turned to the Empress.

"I mean, part of the exoarmor covers your legs, right? And they help you run faster, and jump higher. Wouldn't they make this easier?" 

"I… Fuck," Flint groaned and activated the armor on his legs. A set of five long metal structures covered his lower limbs, with some gears and springs around the knee and ankle to allow it to move freely. Everyone waited for a moment but the dwarf just stared at them, "What? I'm still tired. Don't give me that look, I just did this so I wouldn't forget." 

"But you really didn't think about this?" Ka'mal asked.

"It's not that I didn't think about it. When I first started using this armor, I used it for everything. But then my body started to be the problem. I got fat and lazy without it. So, I stopped using for just anything, and kept it only for when I'm crafting or when I'm fighting."

"Ah, that's fair," Hera nodded, trying to end the conversation since it was clear Flint wasn't happy about it, but it didn't work. They continued talking about it while they rested and then moved up another three floors to reach their destination. Apparently, it was also one of the busiest doorways in this place since there were another five groups there. 

Everyone waited a couple of hours before it was finally time to go. Whoever was in charge of the Underground Babel unlocked the room and all doorways started glowing again. Everyone started crossing as more people would come out, and eventually, it became Hera's turn.

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

Would you like to be transported to:

Hilltop Windmill - 21st layer:

[Yes] [No]

Or press the button below for your private room:

[Enter your Private Room] 

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

Hera stopped for a moment, she turned to Emery, "Is this really safe?" 

"Yeah. Don't worry. The monsters that roam the room are from levels 13 to 45. Even if the layer generally has some up to level 69."

"Nice," Vash and Skyler said at the same time.

"Really?" Neria stared at the two, who just shrugged in response. 

"Ok then. Here is hoping I won't get killed," Hera let out a sigh and pressed yes, feeling the familiar feeling of warm water wash over her body.