Hera finished packing her camp, even if she wasn't sure if doing that would be a waste or not. Her bed and tent had been destroyed during the fight, but the mana pump was still intact. All in all, she didn't lose too much.

  One of her pouches was ripped, and the other had a hole. Thanks to a small emergency sewing kit she brought along, it was easy to patch that up. While fixing it, Hera let out a sigh. She had only stayed here for a day, but it already felt like she had enough to bring to Helena. Besides, she had a long way back. If she returned now, it was still possible to call this a successful mission.

  Making up her mind, Hera walked down the path towards the woods once more. She had noticed this the night before, but the chameleon's corpse was no longer there. Yet, she didn't see any trail of blood. Then again, she wasn't entirely sure how a trail of blood would look here since the purple grass was so much darker in this region.

  Before stepping into the woods, Hera took a deep breath. She knew that this place had chameleons, and the panther was probably still lurking around. Her main issue was that she wasn't in perfect condition at the moment. Her arm was wounded, and the tackle from the Carbuncle created a sizeable purple bruise covering half her torso that made some movements hurt.

  Even constantly using her Mending spell, the recovery was very slow. That wasn't much of a surprise since it wasn't a battle heal. Instead of an instant fix right after she got wounded, this would just speed up her natural recovery. Yet, she didn’t have a choice. She had to go back somehow, and staying here wasn't much of an option.

  Once Hera was sure she was ready, she walked into the forest.

  The first part of her journey wasn't as troublesome as she had expected. There were no monsters around, and the path wasn't difficult to traverse. She only needed to be careful with some random roots growing at odd angles.

  However, as the hours went by, Hera started to feel restless. She had to be constantly looking at her map to be sure she was making progress. Otherwise, it would be easy to get lost. There was no rhyme or reason to the pattern of the trees. Everything was just a jungle. Walking across a place like this truly made the Explorer understand why people could easily get lost in a forest.

  At several points during her travel, the density of trees increased so much that it forced her to slow her speed. If that wasn't bad enough, the area was so dark that Hera had to use her flashlight to move, which gave away her position.

  It didn't take long for her to start hearing monsters coming her way. Using her Pulse spell, she managed to spot one chameleon approaching. Not wanting to give it a chance to attack, Hera rushed towards it, sending a poison needle as a greeting.

  The monster wasn't as quick as the frogs, and as long as she struck it before it was able to camouflage itself, it didn't pose much of a threat. Chameleons tended to use the stealth approach, but they would resort to headbutts when confronted directly. This meant they were only an actual danger when you were caught off guard.

  It took only a couple of strikes to kill the monster. After that, Hera kept going, hoping that the creature's corpse would be enough of a distraction for the incoming beasts. She continued moving for another hour, fighting a few chameleons on the way.

  Eventually, she got hungry and decided to eat one of the monsters. Even if making a fire could be risky, living off protein bars was not great. She never felt truly satiated. And fighting only exacerbated things.

  With that plan in mind, Hera stopped herself from using a Poison Needle on the last monster she was fighting. The last thing she needed was to get sick. Thankfully, it didn't take much to kill it. The explorer had gotten used to killing those monsters. The only thing the chameleons had going for them was their quick tongues. As long as she reached them before they attacked, she only needed to slam her axe a few times on the monster's neck.

  As the creature died, Hera looked around. She took a branch from one of a tree and shot a fire arrow at it, making it burst into flames. With her makeshift torch, she cut up a few pieces of meat and looked for a place where she could cook her meal.

  Finding a small clearing, Hera sat down, waited until everything was done and started to eat. The meat wasn't seasoned, but it was still better than the alternative. Still, it was very chewy. Making a mental note of starting to carry some salt and simple spices, she continued her snack. There was a significant difference between eating something like that and the power bars. With the latter, she could avoid being hungry, but there would always be an underlying issue of not feeling truly satiated.

  Distracted by her meal, Hera didn't notice anything approaching until a cracking sound came from her left. She jumped up, staring in the direction of the noise. Between the trees, she watched as a large creature dodged a tongue and slashed at a camouflaged chameleon. The beast had a bulky, muscular body with a smaller head and deep purple skin. Its fangs seemingly covered in fresh blood.

  "You again?" Hera stared at it, grabbing her handaxe once more while dropping her meal to the ground.

  The panther growled at Hera and started walking towards her, ignoring the monster it had just killed. Using the flaming branch, the Explorer tried to scare the monster away. Unfortunately, the monster didn't seem to mind the fire and kept walking towards the explorer.

  Hera got ready for the attack, dropping the torch and holding her chakram, already prepared with the string from Yarnball. The panther started to circle the Explorer. Each step slow and intentional. It spent a few minutes moving and headed back to the woods, walking backwards without breaking eye contact.

  Hera waited a moment, using her Pulse repeatedly to find where the monster was, but to no avail. After a few minutes, she wasn't able to see the beast anymore. Unsure of what was going on, Hera decided to keep going. Staying there was a bad idea. Even so, she had to be even more careful now that she knew the creature was still around.

  A few hours later Hera reached an open area with one large tree in the middle of it. She walked towards it as one tongue flew towards her head. She leaned back, falling to the ground.

  The appendage almost struck her face as she dropped down. The Explorer quickly jumped up and ran towards the tree, since that was where the attack came from. Getting close to the trunk, Hera noticed a large creature in the middle of it. It was a chameleon different from the others. A pair of large horns was sitting at top its head.

  Thankfully those monsters couldn't become invisible, only camouflaged. Meaning that as long as she changed positions, it was easy to see their location.

  Hera slashed across the monster's neck, but it raised its head, blocking the handaxe with its horns. She jumped to the side and used her chakram to attack, but the chameleon opened its mouth and lashed out with its tongue again. The attack hit her side getting stuck to her body before, pulling her towards the creature's maw.

  Hera slashed the chameleon's side and tried to pull away from the beast. She stopped herself from being yanked. However, the tug of war continued. While they struggled, Hera heard a growl coming from the forest. Looking to the side, she saw the panther heading towards her.

  "Shit, shit, shit," Hera tried to pull the chameleon to the side, trying to make the panther get in her sight.

  Throwing a Poison Needle at both creatures, hoping do damage the monsters, the Explorer dug her feet into the ground to pull away. The panther moved quickly through the area, trying to move behind Hera. Not wanting to have her back facing that monster, she pulled to the side, making sure to keep the panther in front of her. The chameleon wasn't very fond of the situation as its tongue was being pulled sideways. Shifting the position of its head, it increase its efforts to pull the meal into its mouth.

  The panther lunged at Hera, trying to claw her back. She managed to dodge part of the attack, but the strike still cut her left leg. The chameleon took that chance to lash its back leg at Hera's arm while she was distracted by the panther.

  While most of these creatures didn't have other way of attacking, it seemed this horned version was different. The fight barely had started, and Hera was already at a massive disadvantage since both monsters were ignoring each other.

  Her biggest problem was that the chameleon's tongue was still stuck on her, which hindered her movements. Hera pulled the tongue back with one hand and slashed it repeatedly until she was able to cut it off. At the same time, the panther tried to hit her once more, but the chameleon got in the way with a headbutt directed at Hera.

  Finally the lack of understanding between the creatures worked to her favor. The explorer took a few steps back, staying in a triangle with the two monsters.

  It was clear that the panther seemed more interested in Hera than the other creature. The chameleon, on the other hand, seemed to be torn. It kept staring at the explorer, but it was angry with the panther for attempting to steal its prey.

  The area was large enough for Hera to use her chakram as a medium-range weapon, and the Wire Trap style had some attacks made to deal with groups of enemies. She had yet to try it out, but now seemed like her chance.

  The panther got closer to the ground and was about to jump when the chameleon sent the remains of its tongue towards it. The panther jumped to the side, avoiding the attack, and growled at the monsters, who hissed back.

  While the two kept staring at each other, Hera saw a chance for her to flee. She took a step back, but the panther lunged towards her. Seeing that, the chameleon struck the purple-skinned beast with its horns, changing its course.

  Hera jumped away, avoiding the panther, and saw it turn around to attack the chameleon. With the two starting their brawl, she activated her [Hide] and ran away. The Explorer didn't forget that the panther showed up as a question mark with her [Observe], and she wasn't too keen on figuring out why.

  However, she did try focusing on the surrounding noises to be sure that the monster wasn't about to chase her. Luckily, the only thing she heard was the sound of the fight between the two creatures.

  The Explorer kept running for close to half an hour. She didn't want to stop even long after she couldn't hear them fight anymore. Even so, she held back on going for a full sprint. If she ended up exhausting herself, it would give the monsters in the area a chance to attack her.

  Hera slowed down, but she didn't stop moving. It was already getting late, and according to what she had seen on the map, a few kilometers in front of her, there was a large open area that she could use to set up camp.

  It wasn't a straight shot to her destination, as there was a need to diverge from the path she was taking. She also made sure to clean possible tracks and roll around in the mud. Hera hoped that along with her [Hide], this would be enough to lose anything who could be tracking her.

  Arriving at the large clearing, Hera quickly set up the bonfire, the monster repellent, and the perimeter stakes. She had lost her bed, but she could still use the remains of the air mattress as a pillow and stay inside the tent.

  Hera took a look at her supplies. She was still fine with food, but water would be a problem soon. She only had one more full bottle. The other three were empty. Looking at the map, she noticed a light blue mark that spread through a few kilometers ahead of her.

  According to Helena, that area was a place with a small submerged platform, much like the one Hera used when she found the sailor's cove. It would destroy any boat that got close, but she could move while being by the water if she walked there. That was one way to fill up her water bottles and be harder to track at the same time.

  Her other option would be going to a lake about twenty kilometers west. Unsure of what to do, Hera picked another power bar for her dinner while going back to practice the mana reinforcement.

  "When I get back to the city, I want a burger. And a steak, and some chicken, and cake, I can't forget the ice cream. Anything juicy and seasoned," as much as Hera wanted to focus on the spell, her stomach wasn't allowing her to do so. She wasn't hungry. It was more the desire to eat something different from the protein bars.

  After a couple of hours of practice and reading, Hera went to sleep. However, her rest was abruptly interrupted by a loud, high-pitched noise. The Explorer jumped up and looked around. Before she was able to identify what invaded the camp, she heard some noise coming from the side of the tent.

  Hera swung her handaxe in a large arch, trying to hit the monster. The panther landed under the blade, ripping the tent open, and jumped towards the Explorer. The delay gave enough time to Hera step away and avoid the monster's initial attack. She went towards the green fire, hoping it would have the same effect on the beast as it had on the Carbuncle.

  With the light of the flames, Hera was able to see the panther more clearly. Its massive body had a few cuts on the side, and two small protrusions seemed to be growing from its forehead. Again, its fangs and claws seemed to be covered in fresh blood as the light reflected a red shine.

  She waited for it to get close enough and jumped to the side, swinging her chakram to the side, creating a cut on the monster's side. The beast snarled at Hera and ran to the side, leaving the camp and going back into the woods.

  Hera stood there, with the noise ringing in her ears, staring at the place where the beast ran off to for a few minutes before believing the panther wouldn't come back. She looked back at the stakes, "Now I have to wait for them to recharge," she sighed, " Thanks for ruining my sleep," she mumbled while staring at the place the panther had run off to.

  The Explorer was barely able to sleep. She practiced her spells while waiting two hours for the stakes to be usable again and went to bed, only to be awoken by the alarm once more as the panther crossed the perimeter. Hera had to fight it, but after striking the monster once, it ran again. The pattern kept repeating through the night until the first rays of the sun flooded the room.

  "Stupid monster, bothering my sleep. Next time I see it. I'm sending a poison needle with all the mana inside the stone," Hera kept grumbling while packing her things.

  Before grabbing the first stake, she turned towards the woods and started yelling, "Are you still here? Come get me! Come on!" she waved her weapons at the trees. Yet, there was no reply.

  Still grumbling, she grabbed the rest of the stakes and put them in her bag. Before leaving, she considered her options. She needed water, and the two sources were in opposite places. One was to the right, where she would reach the ocean and go along the river. The other was to head to the left. It would take most of the day to get there, but at least it would be a freshwater lake.

  Even so, the better option seemed to be the ocean. It wouldn't be that big a detour, and there was a chance to see a ship passing by. Maybe then she could ask for help. Then again, animals usually had a nonviolence treaty when in places where the water was scarce so maybe the lake was a better choice. But the Explorer had no way of knowing if the panther would act the same way the animals outside the MAZE did.

  Hera went to the right, heading towards the ocean. The area by the sea seemed to be the best place to continue her travel. Checking the map for her route, she left the camp, activating her [Hide] to avoid facing even more monsters.

  She ran through the woods, trying to keep a jogging pace while using her Pulse spell sporadically. A couple of times, she could sense a chameleon on her range, but the creatures were either too distracted or too slow to catch her. When the trees became less dense, Hera could hear the noise of something in the distance. She focused on her hearing, and to her left, there was a creature following her pace.

  "Is that you?" she asked the noise without stopping. For a while, the only thing that could be heard in the forest was the sound of two creatures moving at a fast speed.

  "I guess if you replied, I would be even more worried," she sighed, "Maybe it's just my echo, and I'm going crazy."

  The noise continued throughout the hour. It stopped when she did and sped up when she ran faster. By all accounts, the sound only existed while she was making noise. Hera wasn’t sure if the monster would be smart enough to do that, much less replicate her movements so precisely.

  Distracted by her thoughts, Hera failed to notice a tongue flying towards her. The attack hit her leg and made her roll on the ground, scraping her arms with the impact. Before she could get up, a growl came from the side as the panther jumped on top of Hera. The explorer barely had time to put up her handaxe to hold back the monster. The beast snarled at Hera, trying to bite her.

  If Hera weren't running with her weapon in hand, she wouldn't have been able to block it. The claws dug into her shoulders as the beast went for another bite. The Explorer managed to get her weapon stuck inside the monster's mouth. Yet, instead of pulling back, the panther's tongue went flying towards Hera's face. She managed to avoid it at the last moment, but at the cost of her ear. The tongue was smaller than the one from the chameleons, but it was sharper and stronger.

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  Hera screamed and pushed the panther away, throwing a Poison Spray at it, using all the mana she had inside the mana stone. At the same time, she started using the Mend spell to stop the bleeding. After being thrown, the monster got hit with the vibrant orange liquid.

  The attack hit its torso, going all the way to the lower legs before the panther even hit the ground. Hera followed up the spell with a fire arrow that lit up the orange liquid, engulfing the creature in flames. The monster started rolling around on the ground, trying to put out the fire. But the flames were relentless, the poison that was still stuck to it fueled the blaze. After a few moments, the panther bolted to the side and vanished into the woods.

  "Shit, shit, shit," Hera kept cursing while holding her ear. Tears of pain starting to form in her eyes. The blood wasn't stopping, and the mend spell was doing almost nothing.

  She couldn't remember if someone could bleed out by having a piece of her ear cut off. Hera looked around and found a broken branch. Biting down on it, she placed one hand by her ear and used a fire arrow to cauterize the bleeding. The spell hit part of her head, burning a chunk of her hair and skin, but that was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her ear. She poured water into the wound, only to realize that the suffering became even worse as the air hit the exposed flesh.

  Hera howled with the pain and held her ear as if it was going to fall off. She looked at the ground and saw a piece of the top of her outer ear. Gingerly touching her ear, she realized that there was an entire thumb sized piece missing from the top.

  She looked around for the panther but wasn't able to find it. However, she did find its trail. Part of her wanted to go after it. It was wounded and burning. Now was the best moment to fight it, but she held herself back. The monster was strong and smart. It could have been running just to lure her into a trap.

  "Next time, you won't be so lucky," Hera barked while looking at the panther footprint.

  She used her pulse spell and saw the chameleon that caused all her trouble on a nearby tree and rushed at it. If she couldn't kill the panther, she was going to make sure nothing would try to attack her again. It only took her a couple of strikes to deal with the monster, and in less than five minutes, she was heading towards the ocean once more.

  She kept using her Pulse spell, and every time she found a monster on her path, she would take a detour to kill it. The chameleons were very bad at dealing with surprise attacks. As long as Hera got into their blind spots, it was an easy fight.

  It didn't take long before she arrived at the edge of the woods. There, she could see the sea. Although from her point of view it looked more like a saltwater river. By the cliff, there was a path just a few centimeters underwater, much like the one she had seen by the Sailor's Cove. To get there, Hera could only see one option. She needed to climb down the rocky wall. She could also try to jump towards the water, but letting her pack get wet was a terrible idea.

  Hera started climbing down towards the water-filled path. Now that the adrenaline had left her system, she realized how hurt she was. The wounds from the pangolins were far from recovered, and the claws of the panther had created large gashes around her legs. Her shoulders had smaller wounds thanks to the extra padding in her armor.

  Still, it would take some time before she could get help. Even if she kept going at top speed, she would only reach a settlement tomorrow afternoon. She could try to push through the night and make it in the morning, but it would be the second day without proper sleep. Yet, if the panther was still following her, it wouldn't let her rest, anyway.

  Walking along this path was the first time since going inside the woods that Hera felt somewhat safe. Not as safe as she would be inside a town, but safer nonetheless. The path would spread for a few kilometers, and it gave her the chance to refill her water bottles. Yet, after walking for about an hour, she was feeling restless again.

  "I think there is something wrong with me. Why in blazes am I bored? I'm alone by a monster-infested forest and having to fight against the small waves that crash here. This place is beautiful and amazing, and I'm complaining that it's not exciting enough? Seriously, since when did I turn into an adrenaline junkie?" Hera sighed and took a bite from her protein bar, "Maybe I should see if they have a shrink in here. I think I might need one."

  After a few minutes of monologuing to herself, Hera stopped walking. She stomped her feet on the ground and kicked some water, "And why the hell I'm talking to myself!? Since when was that a thing? During the test, at least, I talked with my weapon that was better, right?" She asked Iris, her handaxe, "I'm definitely going crazy. Or the wounds are infected, and I'm delirious," she glanced back at her weapon, "Well, at least you are not replying. The moment you do is when I lose it completely."

  Hera finally reached the end of the platform. There was a small drop on the cliff, giving way to a path she could use to climb back up to the woods. Hera climbed up, struggling a bit with the slippery rocks and the wound on her back, which stopped her from using all her strength.

  The Explorer kept going towards the settlement. Thankfully, the forest here became less dense, and even with the sun starting to set, she still had enough light to keep going. All the while, she continuously kept using her Pulse spell to find out monsters nearby, but the place seemed free of threats.

  When the sun finally went down, she kept going for another hour, using the flashlight to move. Hera wanted to keep going for longer, but the batteries of her light had run out. She could use a light spell, but if something came after her while she was low on mana, it could be a big problem.

  In the end, Hera found a tree in the middle of a clearing and set up her camp there. The perimeter had to be smaller, but she still could use the monster repellent fire and climb the tree to sleep among the branches. That way, if something came after her, she wouldn't be that exposed.

  The only issue was how to avoid falling from the tree while she slept. She used the air mattress remains to build a makeshift net, and after making sure it wouldn't tear with her weight, she got ready to sleep. All of her gear was strapped to her chest, just in case. It wasn't very comfortable, but if she had to run, it would be easier.

  In the middle of the night, the alarm triggered, waking Hera up again. She carefully looked down towards the camp and saw the panther. Its legs still showed signs of burning, and the wound on its side was in the process of healing.

  Hera tried not to move too much and give away her location, since the monster seemed not to know where she was. She grabbed her pack, but doing so made its contents shift, creating a small noise.

  The Explorer stopped breathing while holding the bag close, hoping the panther didn't hear that. Almost as a reply, the monster jumped up, climbing the trunk of the tree, and sent out its tongue towards the black net between two branches, making the air mattress that Hera was using as a bed rip.

  She fell from the tree, doing her best not to hurt herself too much with the impact. Rolling as she hit the ground, and spinning around to face the panther again. The wound on her back was acting up, and she felt that the fall worsened the situation on her legs. But that didn't matter right now, the monster jumped from the tree, stumbling as it hit the ground. Clearly, it wasn't in good shape either.

  The panther growled and rushed towards Hera. She waited for it to get closer, but suddenly, it opened its mouth and the tongue went flying towards her. Nearly avoiding the blow, the attack still hit her shoulder with a force several times stronger than any frog or chameleon she faced before.

  Not giving the Explorer a chance to rest, the monster followed up by jumping to the side before lunging at her. Hera raised her handaxe to block the claws, and the two rolled onto the ground. She pushed the monster with both her legs and tossed it to the side. The panther fell on the bonfire and roared as the green flames licked its body.

  Hera sent another full powered poison spray towards it. The moment the orange spray hit the fire, it started burning as if it were alcohol. The panther was once more engulfed in flames and started thrashing around, again trying to put out the fire. As the creature flailed, Hera noticed its claws. The blood that was still covering them was not sizzling.

  Because it wasn't there.

  The claws, and the fangs were naturally blood red.

  Hera turned back and started running, leaving the stakes behind. It was obvious that the monster was intelligent, but it seemed to be smarter now. The strength of its attack was also different. There was only one thing that could grow so quickly, take in the powers of other creatures and have blood red fangs and claws.

  A Wendigo.

  The same monster that killed dozens of high-level explorers when the wall came down. It didn't make sense that those creatures would be on the first layer. Yet Hera couldn't argue with the facts. She had no idea why the monster hadn't killed her yet. Especially if it was such a high level creature. Then again, she was damaging it.

  Things just didn't make sense. However, one thing she knew for sure. Trying to fight this beast on her own was stupid. She had to get away.

  The problem was, this creature kept chasing after her for a long time. It waited as she hunted the pangolin and lurked as she tried to return home. It was very likely that the monster wouldn't let her go like this. Meaning that if she was supposed to fight to the death, it would be on her own terms.

  Hera kept running through the woods. Since the panther had no intention of letting her rest, she might as well try to reach the settlement earlier. Usually, she would need some time after waking up before being able to do anything, but being woken up by an attack was more effective than a cup of black coffee.

  Even though she was running and there was no noise coming from behind her, Hera had a nagging feeling that the panther was hot on her tail. She had given up the monster, letting her go. It's been close to a week since they first faced each other, and the creature showed no signs of giving up the chase.

  Her mind was in overdrive, thinking of ways to stop it or to have a chance of fighting back. She couldn't be counting on her luck anymore. The first time, she only was able to run away from it because it was weaker. Then she had to use other monsters as a distraction, or the discovery that her poison spray is flammable.

  Even so, it was clear that the creature wouldn't die just by being set on fire. She had to figure out a plan, something that could give her an edge, anything. Her first thought was the crystal scale, but that was a long shot at best.

  She had no idea how much it would increase the power of a spell or if it would be enough for killing the panther. Hera was starting to get tired and would have to stop sprinting soon. She needed a plan fast.

  'Ok, Hera. Think, what do you know about it? It's strong and intelligent, so any obvious traps would be useless. Trying to hide is a bad idea. Predators tend to have sharp senses. The thing is chasing after me, so it's angry? Maybe I hurt its pride. Pride... can I use that? ... no, it's a monster. Even if I try, there is no guarantee that it would work. But it is chasing me, so I can try to be the bait. But what about the trap? What do I have?'

  Hera made a mental inventory of everything she had on her. The stones could only serve as batteries. The water bottles were useless in a fight. It was the same with the rations. The only things that could be used for a fight were her weapons, spells, and relic.

  'Yarnball can give me 10 meters of string that takes its strength from me. If I find a good place with a single entrance, I could make a tripwire.'

  She grabbed her relic and asked, 'Where can I find a place with a single entrance large enough for me to fight the panther?'

  Hera felt some of her mana leave her body, and the string she just pulled pointed to her left. She pivoted her body and ran in the direction Yarnball told her without hesitating. Her only hope was that it wouldn't be a place too far away.

  She pushed herself to run for another twenty minutes until she finally found a small ravine in the cave wall. Right in front of it, there was a tree on one side and a large rock on the other. Hera placed her pack deeper into the ravine and ripped part of her sleeve, putting it in the middle of the path inside the gorge.

  She hoped that would be enough of her scent to distract the creature. Hera then quickly used Yarnball's string and made a tripwire at the entrance of the ravine. She tried to spread poison on the thread and to avoid being easily seen and hid behind the rock, activating her [Hide]. The monster wouldn't be able to jump over the tree, and if it jumped over the rock, she could have a free shot at it.

  While waiting, Hera tried to recover both her mana and the mana in the stone. She was going to need every point she had for the fight. The new method got much easier with practice. Every time she had to recharge her camping gear, she would use it to recover. She still kept her ears peeled for any movement coming towards her. When she was halfway through charging the mana stone, a notification popped in front of her.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Skill Acquired

  Mana Recovery (Rank 1)

  Improves your natural mana recovery. This effect increases as the mastery of the technique used to create the skill increases. The skill increases your passive mana recovery.

  By activating the skill, you can recover mana at an accelerated pace. However, if the skill concentration is broken, you become unable to recover mana for 30 minutes. The amount recovered by the active effect increases significantly with the mastery of the technique.

  Passive Recovery: 15 mana per minute

  Active Recovery: 20 mana per minute

  Mastery: 10%

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Hera glanced through the skill and decided not to try its active effect right now. Losing the mana recovery would be terrible.

  Even so, now she would be able to keep a light spell for much longer, although it still wasn't enough to be sustainable. With the active recovery, she was very close to being able to keep it on indefinitely. Hera shook her head and focused on the area once again. When she got home, she could test this as much as she wanted, but now there were more pressing matters.

  She had used about 8 meters of thread to make a poison covered tripwire. With the remaining two tied to Mayura's Feather. If she was going to fight, she was going to use everything she had to do so.

  Hera was already feeling more rested when she heard a twig being broken in the forest. Activating her Pulse, she was able to sense the panther on the edge of its range. The monster started rushing towards the ravine and jumped over the rock, avoiding the tripwire.

  As the creature flew above her, Hera was able to see the extent of the damage the fire had made. Its entire lower body was covered in burns and blisters. She took the opportunity and swung her handaxe upwards, trying to hit its stomach. The attack hit the panther, but its movement worked against the impact. .

  The monster tumbled to the side and quickly got back up on its feet. It growled at Hera as she held her weapons close to her body. The monster shifted, and its back leg touched the cloth that was in the ravine. It glided across the ground, making it lose its footing for a moment. Hera took the opportunity to send a poison needle at the creature.

  She didn't place too much mana on it since she didn't want to be with no mana for the fight. The panther started to move to the side. Hera took a few steps forward since she didn't want to be stuck in the corner while fighting.

  The two kept moving around, staring at each other. Hera could only hear the sound of the footsteps she was making, eyes locked with the beast. She noticed the creature's back legs tensing and jumped forward at the same time the monster did. She tried to slash its face using her handaxe, but the panther sidestepped. Simultaneously, she threw her chakram to the side, making it hit the monster's face.

  That created a small cut above the beast's eye. The panther did something similar, sending its tongue at the same time, making a cut on Hera's cheek.

  The monster zigzagged towards the Explorer who took a step back, pulling the chakram back to her hand using the string. The weapon's movement confused the panther. It jumped back, going over it to avoid being hit by the attack.

  Hera sent another poison needle towards the creature and saw the spell hitting the burned part of the monster's torso. The panther ran towards the explorer, closing the distance in a flash and trying to bite her legs, Hera stepped to the side, but it was too late. The monster's fangs dug into her ankle. She started attacking the monster's face and neck with both her weapons until it finally let go.

  As the monster moved back, Hera threw the chakram in front of it. The attack was a feint, and just as the blade seemed to miss the creature, she jerked it back in the opposite direction, making the weapon dig deep into her target's front leg on the opposite side of the initial throw.

  The panther ran towards her once more, zigzagging and jumping at the explorer's head. Hera dove under it and pulled back her chakram, causing the creature to fall to the ground on its side. This time, Hera went into the offensive, jumping on top of the monster and slammed her handaxe on its stomach before it could get up again.

  Simultaneously, she used her chakram as a fist weapon, hitting it repeatedly at the creature. The monster tried to get away from the attack, clawing Hera with all its four legs. In between strikes, Hera kept sending fire arrows and poison needles at the panther.

  The creature's claws kept digging into Hera's skin. She could feel the blood coming out of her body and the sharp pain that went with each impact. However, she also noticed that each strike hurt less than the previous one.

  Suddenly, the Panther let out a burst of wind that pushed Hera away. Pushing the explorer enough to allow it to spin and start to run. However, as it tried to escape the ravine, the monster slammed head first on the tripwire set by Hera. The poison covered string digging deep into the creature's skin.

  Not wanting to let it escape, Hera quickly launched a fire arrow before jumping on the creature's back. The flames ignited the strings and burned both the creature and the Explorer.

  Yet, Hera's only issue were her hands. As she held the creature down and continued hacking away with her chakram. The monster tried to fight back again. At first, she thought that her body was too mangled to feel, but the strength behind each claw was also fading.

  After what felt like an eternity, the monsters finally stopped moving. Hera kept hitting it for a few moments, not realizing that her prey had fallen. What made her snap out of it was the notification that popped while she was attacking.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Level Up

  Current Level: 5

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  When she realized that the panther was dead, she let out a long scream in a mix of pain and celebration. Before anything, Hera started using her mend spell on her body. She didn't want to cauterize any wounds again, but that was still an option. She crawled to her pack and took one of the water bottles out.

  Using part of the water to clean her wounds, she drank the other part and placed the bottle inside the bag again. She looked back at the panther and saw the creature unmoving as well as the trail of blood that she had made.

  "What the hell is that thing?" she asked as she activated her [Inspect]

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Wendigo Remains

  A creature that grows as it devours its prey. It can absorb part of the abilities of whatever it eats.

  This specimen had advanced hiding skills, minor camouflage capabilities, reptile-like characteristics, and weak wind magic.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Hera started laughing, "I'm a fucking idiot."

  She did suspect that this was a wendigo. A creature that easily killed high level explorers. Fighting something like that alone was mad to say the least. Still, she did it. She killed one of them. She was stupid, reckless, moronic, brave, and just batshit crazy.

  And yet she won.

  Hera adjusted herself by the wall, feeling the tiredness wash over her body. This was a secluded place, and there were no monsters around.

  "I can close my eyes just a little bit, right?" Hera mumbled to herself self, letting the exhaustion take over.

  "NO!" Hera jolted up, "I've bled a lot, and I don't know if there are monsters around here. I need to go to the settlement. It's just a few more hours west."

  She got up and got her pack once more. Before leaving the ravine, she looked back at the Wendigo.

  "Shit. You might help Helena," Hera turned around and grabbed the creature's leg. It would take longer to reach her destination, but the monster's body could give some clues to healing Helena. Not just that, but the materials should be valuable. It wasn't something she could just leave here. Since there were no guarantees that another beast wouldn’t show up and eat it.

  ———————————————

  It was close to noon in the settlement by the turtle dungeon. The area had a few places for tents and a small shop that sold food and supplies. There was no need for something more complex. After all, the dungeon wasn't difficult, just annoying to deal with since it required people to protect the baby turtles as they went to the ocean.

  The entire settlement had the feeling of a campsite. People laughed and told stories as they waited for their meals, while others came back from the dungeon, celebrating a rare drop. It was an area where monsters were scarce, and any who got close just became barbecue for the campers.

  "Hey, what's that?" a man pointed towards a figure that was emerging from the woods.

  It was a blond woman, covered in dry blood and with a burn on the side of her head. There were several wounds on her legs and arms, and she seemed to be dragging something behind. A few people gathered to see what was going on as the woman got closer.

  "Is there a healer around?" the woman asked, her voice coming out in a struggled whisper.

  The man who noticed her looked back at his group and received a nod from their Healer.

  "Yeah, we have one here," he shouted as the woman nodded and approached him. He led her to the Healer who immediately started casting spells.

  "What the hell happened to you? Did you fight a Wendigo or something?" the man asked the woman who needed help even to sit down.

  "Yeah, actually," Hera replied in a weak voice.

  "Haha, funny joke," the healer replied.

  "Don't believe me? There is the proof," Hera said, pointing towards the corpse she was dragging, struggling to stay awake.

  The people who were around all used their [Inspect], and the silence washed over the settlement.

  "By the system. Those things are here?" the healer gasped as her spells started to work on the wounds of an unconscious Hera.

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