MAZE - The Endless Quest 69 Tiny Threa

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to get a transfer right away," Hera said, looking at her tablet.

After calling the drone, they had placed the materials of eight frogs in the container. They were still far from the 50 kg that the drone could carry, but that small haul was enough to give them 357 gold. The biggest problem was getting the organs from the frogs. Not only was it hard to keep them intact during the fight, but they also were tricky to remove. Still, for just a bit over one hour of work, it was a really nice pay.

"Hey, am I doing the math wrong, or if we do this for two days, we can get more than a thousand gold each?" Alex asked.

"What? No, you can't be right," Hera said.

"Hang on," Leo said.

He grabbed his tablet and opened the calculator. A few moments later, he looked up from the screen.

"Oh c.r.a.p, she's right. If we keep this pace, we can get almost 700 gold per day,"

"Wow... this is really on another level," Blue said.

Hera agreed, as she stared at the drone that flew away with the latest haul. Money shouldn't be a problem anymore.

She looked at the time. It was almost 5 P.M.

"So, I have no idea at what time the sun sets in here. If it's anything close to the real world, it will set soon. So what do you guys think? We hunt more or go back?" Hera asked.

"I say we hunt," Leo voted.

"You know me too. I hate those things, but... well... Hunting is fun, is that too weird to say?" Alex asked.

"Oh good, I thought I was the only one. I mean sure we are in danger and it's risky. But it is a thrill, right? Like skydiving," Blue said.

"Exactly!" Alex exclaimed.

"I can't say completely agree, but there is something beautiful about planning your attacks," Hera said.

"Yeah, yeah, it's an art like dancing or music now can we find more frogs?" Leo Grumbled.

The group found a shallow lake where a dozen frogs rested after following more tracks. After discussing the best plan, they decided to spread around the lake and try to kill the ones closer to the edge. Then make their way towards the big one in the center. Leo pa.s.sed a dagger to Blue. That way, she could do a quick stealth kill and not the headlock mess she tried before.

They spread out and started to move towards the frogs. Careful not to make too much noise, Hera walked close to a green frog on the edge of the lake. The monster had its eyes closed, but as she approached, the creature got up.

Hera held her breath as the frog spun around with its eyes still closed. The creature finished adjusting itself, allowing Hera to relax. When all the explorers were in position, they all tacked the frogs, aiming at the base of the neck. With a soft thud, the ones Alex, Hera, and Leo attack all fell to the ground. Blue, on the other hand, was not as successful.

The frog that Blue attacked survived the first strike, tras.h.i.+ng around as a response. Splas.h.i.+ng around in the water, the other eight frogs started to awake. Hera and Alex rushed to the closest monster and tried to perform a secondary kill. The a.s.sa.s.sin killed her target, but Hera only wounded hers.

Seeing the monster spin around, Hera jumped to the side, trying to stay in its blind spot. At the same time, a loud croak came from the one Blue was fighting. The sound snapped the army of frogs out of their sleepy state. They started to move around, looking for targets.

Before the frogs could focus on someone, Blue let out a primal scream like a wounded beast's roar. That made all the surviving frogs turn towards the controller. Hera took advantage of the opportunity to strike at the wounded frog twice with her handaxe, killing it on the second attack.

"Aim for the backs, stab in an angle," Leo said as he jumped towards a blue frog.

Hera tried to follow the man's lead, but she had no stabbing weapons. Changing strategies, she aimed at the joints, trying to disable the monsters. Hearing the cries of the frog being attacked by the explorer, a green frog broke free from the taunt and turned to face Hera.

She saw the frog opening its mouth, but before it could attack. Alex appeared on top of it, shoving her dagger deep into its skull. Hera tried to thank her friend, but the a.s.sa.s.sin had already disappeared once again.

Leo was helping Blue to stop her from being overwhelmed. He kept stabbing at the frog's back. A few strikes would leave a red circular mark on the monsters. Unsure of what it was, Blue felt the urge to hit the targets. To her surprise, when she attacked the red spots, the frogs would not only be damage but stagger for a moment. It was as if she was striking an exposed nerve.

With Blue and Leo keeping the frog's attention, Alex and Hera cleaned up the rest of them in just a few minutes. The group looked back at the result of their a.s.sault. The shallow lake, filled with corpses of frogs, was now tainted red.

"This is... gruesome," Hera said.

"Yeah... I said that I enjoy fighting, but this is... a lot," Blue nodded.

"At least we are quick. It's better than if we were making them suffer," Leo said, walking towards a green frog carca.s.s in front of him.

"I guess..." Hera said.

They harvested as much as they could from the frogs. It was already getting late, and the sun was setting in the east.

"Oh, Leo, what was that red mark?" Blue asked.

"It's part of my role. I got a skill during the test. After I get some understanding of the monster, my attacks have a chance of exposing some weak points. I imagined it would take some time to trigger it, but cutting the monster up seems to increase my knowledge of it."

"That is pretty cool, but I think that Alex appearing on top of the frogs is more bada.s.s," Hera said.

"Oh, please, I have a skill that strengthens my attacks if my target is unaware of my presence. What about you? Going in mano a mano without even a skill to help you. That takes b.a.l.l.s, girl," Alex said.

Hera blushed and looked away. She wasn't that brave. Was she?

"Yeah, you are all great. I guess my taunt is not worth mentioning," Blue pouted.

"Don't say that your taunt is the core of the entire strategy. We couldn't take groups this big without you," Alex said.

"Yeah, I mean, you can hold back five frogs on your own. If two swarm one of us, we have to run away," Hera agreed.

"It's pretty obvious we can't do this without you, Ms. Controller, or are you just fis.h.i.+ng for some compliments?" Leo teased.

Before Blue's reply, the group heard a loud squeak sound. Hera and Alex looked around, searching for the noise. Leo got up and grabbed his spear. After a second squeak, he approached the pond.

Stepping in carefully, he scanned the area. In the middle of the lake, there was a frog smaller than those they were just fighting. It was also very round, almost like a watermelon with legs. The frog opened its mouth and let out another loud squeak sound, staring at the approaching men.

"Hey guys, check it out. It looks like a squeaky toy," Leo said, pointing at the frog.

Hera and the other got up to see it. The frog was mostly grey, with a few white spots around it. Its eyes had a bra.s.s-like color with a single dark line in the middle of it. It kept doing its squeak, seemingly having some difficulty to remain standing.

"Oh, it's so cute. What's your name, little one?" Blue said as she approached the frog.

"Blue, that's not a good idea, maybe you should..."

Before Hera finished talking, the small frog dashed towards the controller at an incredible speed. Headb.u.t.ting the woman in the stomach. Blue tumbled back, and the creature slid across the lake while it repositioned itself.

"What the f.u.c.k is that?" Blue asked while standing up.

"Even the small ones are awful," Alex groaned.

"Blue, get up! We need to fight that thing," Leo shouted.

Hearing that, Hera activated her [Observe]

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Giant Rain Frog (Procyon gallaris)

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"This one is weird guys, it has a secondary name," Hera shouted while flanking the creature.

The frog dashed once again, Blue was quick enough to block it, but she still fell backward while the frog landed a few meters behind her. The controller got up once again and retreated, keeping her back faced towards a tree. The frog s.h.i.+fted its eyes towards Leo and Alex, who were closest to it.

It tackled Leo, making the man spin around and fall face first in the water. Seeing that her plan of making the frog hit the tree had failed, Blue dashed towards the creature to stop it from attacking anyone.

The frog wasn't fast enough, and Blue grabbed its hind legs. The creature thrashed around, trying to free itself from the controller's grasp.

"Hera, swing!" Blue yelled, seeing the explorer get close.

Hera approached the frog and got in a batting position, while Blue spun around, still holding the creature. Hera swing Iris and split the top half of the frog in half, falling back with the impact.

"Is everyone ok?" Blue asked, still holding the frog.

"I bit bruised, but I'm fine. Why did it have to hit my right shoulder again?" Leo moaned.

"So you remember not to rush in by yourself again," Alex barked.

"I think you hurt me more than the frog," Hera said, getting up.

"Sorry, this thing is just annoying," Blue said.

"Yeah, what is that?" Alex asked.

Quickly activating her [Inspect], Hera took a better look at the creature.

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Giant Rain Frog

Type: Procyon gallaris

A rare breed of giant frog that only is born out of 10 million eggs. A proficient digger that can't jump as most frogs do. However, its legs can propel the frog forward at high speeds. It's high-pitched squeak, it's a singular battle cry. After some time, the squeak has the ability to harm those that hear it, disorienting them.

The species can grow up to 2 meters tall, fully grown Giant Rain Frogs can break down reinforced iron walls with a tackle.

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"Ok, it's a good thing we got this one while it was young," Alex said.

"Yeah, If a 2 meters tall can brake down an iron wall, I guess a 1 meter tall can break us without a problem," Hera said, thinking about what would happen if that one frog was bigger.

"We can finish the rest and call the drone, but that one we should take to the guild," Leo said.

"I agree, we might get some good money with it," Blue agreed.

"Oh, yeah. That too," Leo mumbled.

"What did you think we could do?" Hera asked.

"Well... maybe they have a quest for it, I could cross one out if that were the case," Leo answered.

"That's a good Idea since this thing is probably rare or dangerous if left alone. But let's focus, we need to finish those frogs. The sun is already setting. Alex, do you think you can help us? Just do the legs, pretend it's chicken," Hera asked.

"I can try, but no promises," the a.s.sa.s.sin mumbled.

"That's fine. Just do what you can. No one is trying to force you, ok?" Blue said.

"I know, but I did nothing in that last fight. I feel like I owe something," Alex replied.

"You don't, but thanks for trying," Leo said.

The group finished butchering the twelve frogs they had killed before, focusing more on the legs and eyes since it was the easier parts to harvest. When they only had two frogs to go, Hera called the drone. The time it took for it to get there was enough for them to finish the work.

The drone left ten minutes before the sunset. They would have just enough time to run back to the road before it got completely dark. When night came, the trail was lit up by a series of flying globules of light. Various metal discs were buried through that path. Those discs created spheres of light when the night came.

Half an hour later, they arrived in the city. Hera wanted to eat, but they needed to check with the guild first. Alex said she needed to take a shower before doing anything else. Looking at her clothes, Hera had to agree. A bath was an excellent idea.

Stopping by the guild, Leo found a quest that asked to deliver the body of a Giant Rain Frog. The quest reward was 150 gold that he split between the party and a compendium about the frog. Since his skill made him stronger, the more he knew about the target, they all agreed that he should be using it.

They went back to their hotel and took a shower before getting ready to see the city's nightlife.