MAZE - The Endless Quest

While Vulcan was preparing for another set of tests, Hera walked to a different room. She had to make the conga line with her court to make sure they could be this far apart, but it all came for a good reason. Just because they were going to leave in the morning, it didn't mean Hera wanted to give up on helping. And she still had one tool at her disposal that could give them an idea of what to do. Although she would never use those words. After all, the Ophidianite was about to call a guide.

During the last couple of days, she had already discussed with the other explorer who had talked with them some things that they had found out, but she was waiting until they had something specific to ask about. That changed since they had to figure something out soon. There was nothing else to do but ask for help. As usual, Hera went through all the stops to make sure she could call the guide into a safe space. The doors were locked and anything that could be a camera was covered. She activated the safety cube and the soundproof barrier. In addition, she had Viper and Crimson waiting on each side of the door, one inside and one in the corridor.

There was a couch and a table in the room, since it was another lab. It wasn't very often that Hera was able to call one of the guides while having proper seating in a comfortable place for them to talk. She even got a few sweets that the alliance members had prepared for dinner. After double-checking everything, she gently rubbed Daskka's head, who was on her lap, and took a deep breath.

"I call upon the Guide of Duskwild Enclave. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure."

For a moment, nothing happened. The Empress half expected something like that. Every guide that she met seemed to have a more intricate entrance than the last, and this time was no different. After a few moments, parts of the shadows around the safety cube started to gather and move, leaving off a trail almost like a plane making a show. Little by little, the source of that trail of darkness became visible. It was a small creature, as most guides were, but it had four legs, a pair of large leathery wings, and a face that was a mixture of a fox with a lemur. It took a moment for her to realize that it was actually a fruit bat. Or at least their head was that of one. They had with four legs, a pair of wings, and a large black fox tail.

The guide glided down, doing a few more spirals and creating almost a tornado of darkness in the middle of the safety cube. Only after they reached the ground did they turn to Hera and bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Hera, Aspirant Hero and the Ophidianite Empress. It is with great satisfaction that I welcome you to my domain, even if said welcome was delayed."

Hera and Daskka bowed back, "It is a pleasure to meet you. Sorry, I don't know your name."

"My apologies. I am Noxis, Child of Night, Warden of the Duskwild Enclave, and Master of Shadows."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Noxis. And I do apologize for taking so long to call you. We were waiting for a moment where we had a better idea of the kind of help we might need," Hera explained.

"We still don't know, but it's not like we have much of a choice now," Daskka added.

The fox-bat smiled. "There is no need for apologies. I understand how valuable my assistance can be. And more importantly, how noble your pursuit is. Many a guide have told me about your accomplishments and your desire to help us. You have my utmost gratitude for everything, including your part in freeing the Strength Spirits."

"I didn't do all that much. I'm just happy they are okay, even if we are dealing with a different kind of problem now," Hera sighed.

"It is understandable. But I will say that you do have the chance of finding a solution. All you have to do is ask the right question," Noxis smiled, his bat eyes turning into small half-moons, which made him seem a bit suspicious.

But that didn't bother Hera at all. She had complete trust in the guides.

"Sometimes when I'm talking to a guide, they just give me the answer. From what you said, I'm guessing you won't be able to do that, right?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, that is correct. Any information about how to save the home of the Spirit will cause ripples that require too much causality for it to be simply offered. But the time you have can be used as a currency that would allow me to share."

"Causality?" Hera tilted her head. It was the first time she had heard a guide mention that.

"That is simply the term I use to refer to the value of our information. The more impactful a piece of information will be, the more causality it will require. Other guides have other names for it; others still, don't even mention it."

"Oh, that makes sense. Okay, so I'm going to ask the question now, and if you can answer with yes or no to start, that would be great. But if I veer off too much from the direction I need to go, give me a heads-up. Is that okay? And feel free to take any sweets," she gestured to the table with a few cookies and brownies.

Noxis nodded. "But of course," he waved his wing and the shadows behind him became denser, allowing Hera to see them even against the black backdrop of the safety cube. The shadows had a timer marking five minutes. "I await the first question."

"Than—" Before she could finish the sentence, a voice rang in her mind.

'Hera, did you get a copy of the spell circle we're using?' Vulcan asked.

'I did,' Hera replied. She opened her mouth to ask Noxis a question, but the voice didn't stop.

'Don't forget to ask if the spell circle is simple enough or if it needs to be more complicated,' Forge continued.

'I won't,' the Empress replied, her voice mildly annoyed.

'And ask if we can complete this project with the tools we have on hand, or if we need to get anything from a dungeon or something,' Vulcan said.

'The guide is right in front of me, and the skill only gives me five minutes to ask questions. If you keep interrupting me, I'm going to waste that time. I understand your worry, but stop.' The Ophidianite made sure not to sound too angry in her mental voice, but that was a bit trickier than she would have liked. Still, the line worked, and Forge stopped talking with her.

"Sorry about that. One of my Court members was reminding me of a few things we needed to ask," Hera smiled at Noxis.

"That is very curious. We guides are used to seeing the world freeze if the one who summoned us talks to another. It is interesting that you're able to circumvent that," the fox-bat had an amused expression on his face, almost like a cat who just found a new toy.

"A few other guides commented on that, too. They all assume it's because they are part of my legacy. So technically I'm not speaking with anyone else, I'm speaking with myself," Hera scratched the back of her head. "It's the same thing when I'm talking to Daskka."

"That is very interesting. I will have to discuss it more with my brethren. Now, shall we solve the business at hand? Even with my help, I believe you are in a time crunch," Noxis sat down, his back legs on the floor while the front ones made him stand up.

"Of course. First question, yes or no unless you need to say more, but try to keep it short, please. Are we on the right track to make this work?" Hera asked.

"It can be."

The Empress pulled out the spell circle. "Is it possible for us to make a small change to this spell circle so it would emanate a specific type of Mana, even if the change would stop the spell from working?"

"No."

"Is that just not possible, or is the circle the problem?"

"The circle is the problem."

"Ok, before anything else, emanating Mana like this. Would it solve the issue?"

Noxis shook his head. "Not entirely. You will require one more thing."

"Is it something we have access to?"

"Yes," Noxis' eyes sparkled at that answer. Somehow, that made Hera feel as if they didn't just have access, but they already had whatever it was in their possession.

"Are we able to come up with a solution and make that solution today, before we have to leave?"

"If you work fast enough, yes."

"Can you explain to me why this specific spell circle wouldn't work to emanate Mana when it fails?"

"I can do that, but it will require all the time you have available."

Hera paused. "Would that explanation help us save the Strength Spirits?"

Noxis shook his head with an amused expression. "Unfortunately, that is not a question I can answer."

"Okay, let me rephrase that. If we figure out a way to make something emanate Strength Mana constantly, would that be enough to allow the Strength Spirits to continue living here?"

"Yes."

"Would that be something temporary, or would this tool we create eventually change the environment enough so it becomes sustainable by itself?"

"With enough effort and tools, the latter," Noxis smiled.

"Perfect. Then yes, please explain to me how we can make a spell in general that emanates a specific type of Mana."

Noxis waved the timer away with his tail. He took a bite of one of the cookies and walked over to Hera and the spell circle she had placed on the table. "First of all, well done. I expected no less from the one who saved the Strength Spirits. Your questions were sublime."

"Why do I get the feeling you're buttering me up for something bad?" Hera frowned.

"I'm doing no such thing. It is simply that the answer to your question is a bit simpler than you might expect."

"Ok..." Hera frowned.

She watched as Noxis started changing the spell circle with his tail. "When you use something like this, a spell circle, what do you imagine the Mana does?"

"It flows from wherever we put it to the rest of the circle. More complicated ones can have an input, so the Mana follows a specific path." The Empress replied without missing a beat.

"Correct. It flows. You, better than most, understand that even if Mana cannot be considered having a proper state of matter, its behavior is similar to a liquid or, more to the point, a gas," Noxis added a couple of markers that would force the Mana to follow a specific path on the spell circle. "And we can consider the lines that were used to draw this spell, the pipes that are housing the Mana. Now, let me ask another question. How would you make a pipe burst?"

"It's a buildup of pressure. The gas gets stuck somewhere and doesn't have a way to escape, so everything just pops," Hera replied.

Noxis nodded and added a couple of lines to the spell circle. One of them was extremely thick, where all the Mana would gather before going into a thin line that should already have Mana passing through it. "Exactly. Your previous attempts broke the pipes, which caused the entire structure to collapse. But if you keep it running while simply forcing a few pipes to take in more Mana than they were able to, you get this." He tapped the spell circle, putting just a bit of magic into it. A tiny puff of red Mana came out of the paper before the ink vanished.

"Was it really that simple? We didn't have to break the spell, we had to make it keep going and just... waste Mana?"

"Waste mana in the right way. But yes, I'm afraid that is the case. Hence my attempt to make you less upset," Noxis smiled.

"You could have left the spell circle, you know. Now we have to make a new one," Daskka grumbled.

"I'm afraid the time wouldn't allow that. I am able to teach, not to give you the solution," Noxis took a brownie. "Please, give my compliments to the chef. The cookies were delicious. I will take my leave now, as I know you have much to do. And Hera, would you give me the honor of visiting you at a later date? Although I am unable to give you anything, I still would like to express my gratitude for everything you've done."

Hera opened a big smile. "Of course. I'm glad to help. And I'm sorry we didn't meet under better circumstances."

"Fret not, our meeting came at just the right moment. And so will the next one." With that, Noxis vanished into the shadows. Hera barely registered when the guide was no longer there. Somehow, he was able to enter the darkness in such a natural way that it felt like he was always there.

After confirming that Noxis had truly left, the Empress dropped all the spells and the safety cube. They finally had a way of creating the spell circle they needed. She could only hope that there was enough time for Vulcan to create everything they needed.