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MAZE - Chapter 1098 - Specters in the dungeon.
🕑 Added 2025-08-17 02:48:14 +0000 UTCThe specters were here inside the dungeon. Hera spent a very long moment trying to process that information. Not because she didn't believe in it. She did. How could she not? She was seeing those creatures roaming around. But because it didn't make sense. How was something from outside of a dungeon able to affect the inside of a dungeon? It just didn't make any sense.
Maybe she was cursed? But if that was the case, how or, more importantly, why? She didn't interact with any of the Naga, nor did she touch them directly. The only thing that could be potentially dangerous was the fact that she took the bones from one of the Naga and put them to rest near the graveyard. But even then, if anything, that should be the kind of thing that stopped you from being cursed, not made you cursed.
And more than that, if this was a curse, what was its purpose? Of course, a curse couldn't exist by itself. It wouldn't just happen - it would have a function. Just like the one that Alex had. That one curse wanted to grow, wanted to become more powerful and to proliferate. But a curse that just made you see Naga didn't really make any sense. It couldn't be about making sure people never forgot the Naga. After all, there were other places in the MAZE that had actual proof of their existence. And it couldn't be just about ghosts chasing her, because why would it be?
The Empress tried to make a connection with the snakes that were still outside, and although it was a bit tricky to sense their presence now, she could at least pinpoint their location. She struggled a bit more to call the closest one and commanded the snake to move towards the entrance of the dungeon.
Hera wanted to know if the specters were actually chasing her here or if they were just existing and walking around. Or if the specters belonged to the dungeon itself. Maybe it was another feature of the room? But that didn't really make any sense.
Viper's idea of creating a barrier with the root that protected them from the ghosts seemed to be working. If they wanted, the ghosts would be able to jump over that line of powder, but she didn't really believe in their ability to do so. Those types of creatures were usually able to fly or just not leave the ground at all. It was very rare to see something in between. Even jumping could be too advanced for them.
Understanding that anything she tried to do right now would just warn the specters up to her presence, the Empress decided to stay put, watching over them until she received the signal from her snake when it tried to approach the dungeon. That's when she swapped her senses to see if she could understand what was happening outside. To her surprise, not only were there large numbers of specters near the dungeon entrance, but they were also walking towards the dungeon.
However, they were unable to enter. Hera called another group of snakes, and about one hour later, was able to send them inside. Once the snakes were in the dungeon, she swapped her senses once more to see what was going on. There, the specters slowly materialized from a strange pale blue fog. When that happened, they started walking deeper into the dungeon, coming out inside the clearing.
Despite the worry, the Ophidianite couldn't help but be impressed by something. She could contact her snakes even when she herself was not in the same location. In hindsight, this was something that she should have tried a long time ago, but the thought just never crossed her mind. She assumed that, unlike her court members, if the snakes existed on a different plane, they would vanish. But maybe she should even try to see if they would still exist once she changed rooms.
Focusing back on the task at hand, the Empress started to watch what the Specters were doing. They avoided the ring of powder and kept walking over Eli's tent. But the orc didn't wake up before sunrise, and the specters didn't do anything aside from moving from one place to the next. There was never any moment when they even seemed to acknowledge the things that existed around them. It was a very strange situation, and it was likely that this would only get stranger in the future.
But at the same time, Hera really didn't have anything to do right now. She was inside a dungeon, and any attempts to interact with the specters would cause them to become angry. That being said she didn't want to waste this opportunity.
The Empress went to bed, asking Crimson and Viper to wake her up before sunrise. They did just that, and Hera waited a few minutes, sending her court up into the sky so they could track the movement of the sun. She wanted to test one thing the moment the sun was about to hit the specters. It was something that she had yet to try to that could be possible only here. Or at least, here was the safest place to do that.
After all, even if the specters were able to enter the dungeon, even if they somehow were able to warn each other about her presence, and since they were not the same ones that she had seen outside, the Empress was confident that even if something like that were to happen, she would be able to handle it. At the very least, she would only have to worry about it when inside this dungeon.
Hoop, who was at the very top of this totem/scouting operation and warned the Empress that the sun was getting close, she stepped out of the powder root line, ready to test a theory. The nearest specter's face turned in her direction. Its expression changed from that unfocused stare to an angry shade of purple, as if a red filter was being placed over it. The ghost started to growl and move towards Hera, who first fired a [Poison Needle] at it. She already imagined that physical attacks wouldn't do much but wanted to check this first.
The moment her magic touched the specter, the creature tumbled backwards as if it was being punched in the face. The poison took hold of something and continued to spread across the monster before it caused the specter to collapse into itself, losing completely its shape.
Since the rays of sunshine were getting close, Hera quickly sent out Mock to strike another of the specters - one that was closer to Eli's tent. The chakram flew through the air and cut the creature in half, not even feeling any resistance as the strike connected.
The sunlight was already starting to arrive in the clearing, but the Empress wasn't done. There were two more tests she wanted to make. Moving quickly, she created a venomous dagger in one hand and grabbed a rock from the ground while the created weapon was still in motion. The weapon she created was aimed at one of the specters, while the rock she just took in her hand was targeting another one.
Her dagger hit the ghost, destroying it on contact. But the rock didn't do the same. Instead, it just flew away harmlessly, passing through the creature without causing anything or even suggesting that something had happened.
This pretty much confirmed what she was thinking at first. These specters, these ghosts, could only be affected by magic. They were completely immune to any sort of physical attack. Sure, maybe this wasn't really the case and there was more to it. But for now, this is what her experiments were saying.
When the sun actually came out, Eli emerged from his tent. The orc seemed to be a morning person, happy and excited for a new day.
"Oh? Hera? You're already up. Did you sleep all right? Did something happen during the night?"
The Empress shook her head. "No, no, everything's fine. Don't worry about it. Actually, did you see anything weird during the night?"
Hera doubted that Eli had noticed the specters, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
The orc just shook his head. "Not really. Why, did something happen?"
"It might have been just a bad dream. Sorry to worry you."
"Don't worry about it. It wouldn't be the first time that bad dreams messed with my exploration. Trust me, some people can be very superstitious. But I hope you're still up for the task?"
"I am. Don't worry about it. It was not a bad dream on the level of 'we need to get out of here.' Just something weird in general."
"Okay then. So do you mind if we start moving? I was going to wait for you to wake up and then offer some breakfast, but if you are already up and about, we should start looking into things."
"I don't mind. But we should really eat something first. It's not a good idea to start exploring on an empty stomach."
Eli let out a hearty laugh and nodded. "I couldn't agree more. I think I still have some soup from last night if you're interested."
"Soup would be lovely," Hera said with a smile.
The two of them ate quickly and got ready for the day.
"Say, do you mind if we stop by one of the places we passed yesterday first?" Eli turned to the Empress with a confused expression.
"I don't see a problem, but why?"
"I have a skill that recently became available. It allows me to create some mana snakes, and I can send them anywhere really. So they can see what's going on and report back to me. I figured we could toss them into one of the caves that you mentioned led to underground rivers and see if they can find something from there."
Eli stopped to think for a moment before nodding. "That's actually a very good idea. Yeah, we can drop by there first. I think this is the best place for it." He pointed to an area on the map where there was a large mountain.
The Empress dropped a couple of snakes that she recalled during the night into one of the caves that would lead to the underground rivers that Eli hadn't found. She was doing that for two reasons.
First, the journal did say that Au Dorado was located near a river, but it never specified if the river was above ground or not. Second, there was a part of her who still wasn't entirely sure if Eli was right in his assumptions. He was an explorer, and his mission was set up in a way that made it seem like he knew what he was doing. But there was also the possibility that this orc was crap. Maybe he thought he knew what he was doing and was just very good at pretending. If that weren't the case, then she could trust what he was saying more easily. And sending the snakes through this specific cave was a good excuse to confirm his abilities.
They didn't simply drop the snakes down and wait for them to fall. The cave was a large tunnel network, and the snakes would take some time to reach the water. While they were doing that, Hera and Eli started flying towards the first location that they found to be interesting yesterday: an area near a river that was strangely devoid of trees, only with low vegetation surrounding it.
It felt like the most obvious place for a settlement to have existed, and while it didn't seem like the city of Au Dorado was there, it could have used to be a village or something that would guide them in the right direction.
#### Author's Note ####
Is Hera being fair or is it just her paranoia?
