MAZE - The Endless Quest

Hera was following Helena to the elevator. The classrooms were on the third floor of the guild.

One day, it was all it took to her life to change completely. Yesterday she worked in the bookstore, woke up feeling depressed, and would cry herself to sleep almost daily. Now, she was worried she would seem like a fool who smiled all the time. All this because of the woman who was waiting for the elevator with her.

Wondering why Helena was helping her so much, Hera kept looking at her with admiration and awe. She seemed to be so together, like her whole life was already figured out. How can someone who seems so young be so mature?

"Hera dear, you are staring again," Helena said, giving Hera a smile and a side glance.

Hera looked down, embarrassed about being caught staring at Helena another time. Seeing her like that, the attendant couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"You seem to have something on your mind. You know you can ask me anything, right? You are a part of our family now."

Blushing a bit, Hera thought about what she should ask but felt like all questions would be stupid or troublesome to Helena.

"No, I.. I don't have anything to ask".

"Hera, sweety. You are an explorer now. You need to be more assertive. If you are not, then I'm gonna have to tell you my full life story, and that will be dreadfully boring."

That made Hera laugh a bit. To her, that seemed impossible. There was no way that someone as confident and amazing as Helena would have a boring story. While she was thinking about this, the elevator arrived.

"Finally, I have no clue why it's taking so long," Helena walked in first, but then saw a piece of paper that was in the notice board of the elevator, "Oh right, they are doing maintenance. Honestly, why can't we have a magic lift like most of the other guilds have," with a sigh, she waited for Hera to join her inside.

"Ok, just ask me something to break the ice, anything. What I had for dinner last night or whatever."

Hera looked around and then said with a soft voice while getting inside the elevator.

"What did you have for dinner last night?"

Helena stopped and stared at her for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Hera started blushing, feeling ridiculous for asking that.

"I wasn't expecting you to be so literal," Helena wiped a tear that was forming in her eye, "I had a salad, some pasta and a piece of apple pie for dessert. I had a huge craving for the last few days."

The doors started to close slowly. Hera was feeling a bit better about her question, so she kept going.

"Did you make the pie?"

Catching her breath, Helena managed to stop her outburst.

"Nope, I can't cook to save my life. I got it all in a restaurant near my home. Try a more personal question. It's okay. I won't mind."

Hera thought for a moment. It was stupid, but she felt a bit more comfortable now. After all, she was a good cook. Trying to think if there were any other things she wanted to know, she realized all the questions in her mind had been about the same subject.

"What... what is your level?"

Helena gave a big smile towards Hera.

"Now we are talking! We explorers only have one thing in our minds. I'm level 18. And I'm a mage."

Hera's eyes widen. A level 18 mage? She never imagined that a high-level explorer would be working as a clerk. She just assumed they would be in the maze exploring and leveling up.

"And why..." Hera stopped talking before the question came out of her mouth. It was probably a personal reason, and she didn't want to intrude.

Helena, already figuring out the question, answered it anyway.

"Why I'm working as a clerk? I got homesick. After spending a few years in the MAZE, I wanted to come home to my family and friends."

Hera just stared at Helena.

"How many years were you there? And how old are you?" Realizing that it was rude to ask that, she quickly added, "Nevermind, you don't have to answer it."

The elevator opened, arriving on the third floor. Both of them walked out just after the question.

"I'm minding if you don't let me answer. I was there for five years, I got way too distracted with research, the city I was at, and everything else. So I never went too far deep in the MAZE. And I'm 32, by the way."

"And you don't know how to cook?" Hera asked as a reaction. Only to become pale, realizing she could be offending Helena.

"Hey! I can do other stuff, you know. I just never got around to cooking," She pouted.

Hera couldn't help but giggle at the reaction. She could be an adult, but right now, Helena looked like a teenager.

Seeing Hera comfortable around her, Helena couldn't help but smile. However, they had just arrived in the classroom.

"Okay, this is where you will be. Let me just introduce you to the teacher."

She knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, a man opened the door. Hera recognized him. He was the one that she saw in the reception area with suntanned skin, and long grey chops.

"What?" the man asked sharply in a deep coarse voice.

"Pipe down Calvin, I have one last student for your class. We had some issues with her registration. That's why we are late."

Helena took a step to the side so the man could look at Hera. He gave her a long stare. At first, it wasn't a problem, but he took so long to say anything that made her uncomfortable.

"Umm... Sorry to be late, Mr. Calvin," Hera said sheepishly.

He stared at her even harder.

"Lassie, in my class, ye call me Mr. Greyson. Ye don't have the right to use my first name until ye can beat me in the field."

It took Hera all that she had not to turn and run away. His presence was intimidating, and the way he spoke only made him scarier. However, when she looked at Helena, she realized one thing.

"Did you beat him?" she asked, looking at the clerk that only answered by putting one finger in her lips and smiling.

"That's enough, lassie. Get in or go home."

Greyson walked out of the door, giving space for Hera to come in. Helena then whispered something in his direction, and afterward, Hera only heard him mumble, "Bloody mages."

Before she sat down in the last empty seat in the middle of the room, she got a text on her cell. It was a message from Helena wishing good luck and saying for her to go to the hall of heroes after the class. There were still a few things they had to do.

With a smile, Hera put her phone on do not disturb, and looked to the teacher excited about the training. Mr. Greyson walked towards the front of the class and continued the lecture.

"Like Ah was saying, the maze is not what ye think. It is not a place filled with walls with one exit. It is actually divided into many rooms."

He drew a square on the blackboard.

"Imagine this is a room. Anything can be inside it. A town, a tower, a field, even an ocean. It's called a MAZE  for each room connected with another by a doorway."

He then made another four squares around the first and connected them all with a line.

"The doorway can be in any place inside the room, up or down, hidden or in plain sight. The rooms can also vary in size. They can be a few hundred meters to miles 'n' miles."

He looked at the board and made a couple more shapes connecting to the other. But this time mixing circles, triangles, lines, and even some weird squiggly lines.

"The room can also be in any shape, and the end is not always clear. Ye can be running through a field and hit an invisible wall."

Mr. Greyson rambled talking about all the times he found the edge of the room by accident. Although Hera was interested in the subject, she couldn't help but look around. There were twelve people in the room, not counting her and the teacher. Most of them seemed to be eighteen, but a couple looked a bit older, which made her relax a bit. She still was the oldest, but at least more people started a bit later.

"The running into a wall thing happened to me once too, and Ah broke my nose in two different places. Never got back to the way it was."

A boy who was sitting in front of Hera approached the girl in front of him and tried to whisper.

"So, that's why he has such an ugly face."

He barely finished the sentence when Mr. Greyson grabbed his shoulder with one hand pushing him down into the chair.

"Oy laddie, ye better show some respect to yer elders."

The phrase came out calmly, but one look at the teacher's face, and you would see that he was angry. Everyone noticed that, and even the air in the room seemed to try to escape. After a few moments with the man staring at the boy, Hera could see the other students feeling physically uncomfortable, and the boy sweating almost like he had a fever.

Not sure what to do, she could only think about the angry customers that she dealt with in the bookstore. Feeling too much anxiety because of the situation, Hera decided to try one of her tricks to distract the teacher.

"Mr. Greyson?" She said softly.

The teacher looked towards her without letting the boy go.

"Aye?"

"... You said the wall can be anywhere. How was the first time you saw one?"

It was a risky trick. She knew that. But usually, if they take the bait, the customers would talk about themselves and cool their heads enough so she could do her job.

"The first time? It was a waterfall. Ah fell in a river and was being dragged towards it. Just before the fall, Ah hit the wall. That day Ah decided to learn how to swim."

Mr. Greyson walked back to the front of the class to continue the lecture. The boy he had just released looked back to Hera and mouthed a 'Thank you.' She answered with a smile before going back to what the teacher was explaining.

"In recent years we found a skill that lets ye see the map of the room yer, in. If yer good with it, ye can even see where the walls are. That is one of the skills we teach ye in this class."

One of the older ones in the back then asked.

"Mr. Greyson, Sir. Does that mean we can learn skills through other people?"

It was a question that didn't cross Hera's mind. Everyone knew about skills and that you can get them as you level up. But no one talks about how to learn them. Why is that?

"Aye, we have a rule about not talking about this with people who are level 1. But ye can learn new skills in various ways. That's gonna be tomorrow's class. Now, we go to the gym. Ah want to see what ye can do."