408 Charting a raft

The new jungle village wasn't all that unique by itself, not to say that it wasn't an incredible view. Surrounded by the silver steel walls, there were a number of treehouses everywhere. Each of them was in a different tree, but most of them were small structures made with logs and large palm leaves that didn't belong to this room. On the ground, the houses and buildings were more normal, but they were all made out of wood of varying colors. In comparison to the Waperath Kingdom, this place was a shoebox, but at the same time, it felt more open. Unlike how it was in the main city, the streets here were wide, and the houses were spread apart. Almost no structure here was touching another and the vegetation was thriving.

For now, Hera and Alex stopped by the hotel, which was located around one of the larger clusters of trees. They were taking advantage of the area and setting up the rooms above in the trees. It was a way to have some novelty, but that carried a couple of issues. Each room had some magical tools that worked as a substitute for toilets, showers, and sinks, and to avoid having a bunch of wires everywhere, the housekeeping would have to change the stones inside the bathroom once a day to recharge the mana stone and swap them with new ones.

After checking in and resting for a few hours, they left the hotel in search of the mage who might be able to help them reach the heart of the jungle. He was one of the people in charge of bringing goods back and forth to the other cities. His base was here, and he was usually the person people would call when they had an emergency. This was all thanks to a combination of things, including a very unique spell and item that he got when doing a dungeon in another room.

Hera had no idea where he lived, and that was a good thing. Going after him at his house was a bit invasive, but she knew there was a good chance to find him in the guild. Or at least, that's where she could send him a message. Arriving at the guild, one of the clerks pointed out a man wearing black jeans, leather boots, a white shirt with a velvet vest with several leather straps around his torso holding some tools and a few daggers as well as a pair of brass knuckles hanging around his waist. He had golden hair and a soft stubble. Whoever that person was, he was very elegant as long as you didn't focus on his exhausted expression. Just looking at him made Hera remember her days of working retail during the holidays.

Alex looked at Hera, "Should we wait till tomorrow?"

"I don't think it will matter all that much. That's pretty much his default mood," the clerk replied.

"Oh… and what's his name again?" Hera turned back to the clerk.

"Lecter. I honestly don't know his last name."

"Oh. Thanks for the help, and sorry for the trouble," Hera smiled at the clerk and started heading towards the mage.

"Are you sure we should talk to him today? I mean, he should be getting home, right?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, but we can at least introduce ourselves and ask if we can talk tomorrow. Worst case scenario, he will tell us to fuck off," Hera shrugged.

"And since when you don't mind that kind of thing?"

"Since today. I really want to reach the heart of the jungle soon," Hera smiled.

"You really think we are going to find something, don't you?"

"I'm positive about it."

Alex sighed but didn't say anything else. It was very rare for Hera to get like that, and when she did, there was no stopping her. They approached the man. Hera was in front and greeted him first, "Mr… Lecter. Hi, I'm Hera. Do you have a minute to talk?"

The man stared at her with a confused expression, "Mr. Lecter? What do you want?" his voice was deep and raspy.

"Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask for your help with a trip."

"Talk to me in the morning. I'll see if I can schedule something for you in a couple of weeks," Lecter waved his hand off and kept walking.

Hera followed him, "Any chance we could do something sooner? Tomorrow would be ideal."

"Tomorrow? Do I look like someone who can do things on such short notice?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking. Are you busy tomorrow?"

Lecter squinted at Hera, "That's beside the point, and you two are getting in the way of my drink. So unless you want to pick up my bar tab, get lost and talk to me tomorrow. I'm off the clock."

"I wouldn't mind paying for a few drinks if we can talk about this. I won't say the tab for the full night, but while we are there, sure."

Lecter raised a single eyebrow, "You want my help that much?"

"Kind of. We are not desperate, but with your help, we can get there much sooner."

"Fine, pay for a few drinks, and you can at least tell me what you want. I won't promise I'll do it, though."

"That's more than enough for now," Hera nodded.

The three of them walked to a building nearby. It was a simple bar without any special decorations or anything, just a lot of wood. Lecter seemed to be one of the regulars. Not only did he ask for his usual, but one of the patrons got up from his seat to give the mage his usual table.

"Is that how people always treat you?" Alex was a bit shocked by that reaction. Not so much about the bar staff, but because of the man who gave up his seat.

"No, that one just lost a bet with me a while back. Now, he can't use this table when I'm here."

"Ah, OK. It's not weird then."

"You thought I was weird?" Lecter stared at Alex.

"Not you specifically, but the situation. I mean, how many people do you know who not only have a specific table in a bar, but have people give up their seats when they arrive because of it? That kind of thing would only happen in movies about shady organizations."

"Fair point, I guess," Lecter crossed his arms and waited for the drinks to arrive. When the server came along, he turned to them, "Hey, how much for a bottle? Top shelf stuff."

"Any bottle, or you mean our brandies?"

"The brandy, of course. The best one you got."

"We have an aged red dragon fruit called 'Draconian Spiritus,' but a bottle goes for 150 thousand gold here. Is that what you want?" the server asked.

"Hera, was it? You can still turn around and leave."

Hera squinted at Lecter before turning to the server, "That one is a bit much. What's your second best?"

"It's called Unholy Brandy. It's made with the help of a monster called Corpse Flower. The creature feasts in dead bodies and, when full, can create some fruits used in this drink's fermentation process. I have tried it myself, and it's very pleasant, despite the oddity of the product. A bottle will run you 50 thousand gold here."

"Is that enough?" Hera turned to Lecter.

"Hell yeah. I was just trying to scare you off, but if you are paying for that kind of drink, I won't complain," Lecter smiled for the first time since they met.

"Bring us a bottle then," Hera smiled at the server and turned back to Lecter, "Can I explain what I want now?"

"Sure. I already have my first drink, and something really good is coming up. I'm in a good mood now."

"So, I want you to take us to…." Hera started speaking, but Alex cut her off.

"Hang on. People say that you have a way to travel across the room really quickly. Is that right?"

"It is," Lecter nodded.

"And how do you do that? Can you take more people?"

"Depends on the number of people. You two wouldn't be a problem. And about the how. A few years ago, I beat the hard mode of a dungeon. It was the first time anyone ever did that, so I got some extra rewards. The one that helps me with this is the floating raft. It's a mana construct that creates a raft of varying sizes that can levitate in the air and carry a number of people or boxes. Then, I learned how to make a sea of wind to help control the weather in a room. Adding that to a couple of skills that I have, I can make the raft travel around at a very good pace. If needed, I can be in the Waperath Kingdom in under an hour," Lecter explained.

"OK… I think we can tell him then," Alex turned to Hera.

"Yeah, I agree. And thanks for double-checking things," Hera turned to Lecter, "We need to go to the heart of the jungle, and if you could help us get there faster, it would be much appreciated. I'll pay your fee, as long as it is reasonable."

"That's…. It's a tall order. The heart of the jungle is filled with monsters, and the skies in this room are not exactly safe either. Not to mention that finding a place to land there is a nightmare. In the center of the room, the jungle gets much thicker."

"What if we are asking for a one-way trip? We might even have a way to drop from your flying boat, but if you have another option, it would be great," Hera explained.

"Then you would be getting back on your own?"

"That is the plan. I'm an assassin, and she's an explorer with the assassin role. We can hide pretty well," Alex announced proudly.

"I'm sure you can, but this is serious business. The jungle is not a playground, and you two might end up dying if you are not careful. I mean, everyone in the room is aware that the odds of a wendigo roaming the area are very high," Lecter said in an ominous tone.

Hera nodded, "I know, and trust me. I already found a couple of wendigos in the wild, and I have no intention of finding another."

"You found one? Outside a rampage?"

"Yep, one in Boothudurn, but that one was a newborn and wasn't hard at all, but the one in Brinnefront I found barely a month after I finished training. That one was stronger than me, and I almost died, and I still have the scars to prove," Hera tapped the ear guard that hid her missing ear. At the same time, an idea came to her mind that she had yet to try. Maybe she could somehow combine the sonar effect of her ear guards with her sensory net, allowing her not to just increase her map but even localize the monsters around her.

"Are you still here, girl?" Lecter asked after seeing Hera stare into nothing for a moment.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I had an idea unrelated to all this."

Lecter shrugged, "Fine, but are you really sure you want to be dropped off in the middle of the forest like that?"

Hera looked at Alex, "I'm down for that. How about you?"

"I'm in," Alex nodded.

Lecter took a big gulp of his drink, "OK then. 25k each for a one-way trip."

"So 50 in total?" Hera asked.

"Yep, 60 if you two want help getting down, and I think you do."

"We'll take it," Hera replied right away. This amount of money wasn't much of a problem, and if she managed to find something good about the blademasters, she would make a lot more money with all this.

"OK then. Meet me in front of the guild tomorrow at 10. I'll confirm if I'm free for the day and we can go. It should take us between two to four hours to get there, depending on the wind."

"Are you going to be OK getting back alone?" Alex asked.

"Don't worry. Worst case scenario, I have a way to move much faster, but I can't bring anyone along in that case. That's another thing, if we end up in a situation where we all have to run, I'm saving myself. Be aware of that," Lecter explained.

They talked for a while longer as the mage explained some of the issues people would have in the journey. After that, Hera and Alex left the bar so they could rest for the night. When they arrived at the hotel, Alex turned to Hera, "Hey. I know that we said we would come back on our own, but you have another way to do that, right? You mentioned that if it worked, we might have an easier time getting back to the city."

"I said it was a possibility. The information I got was a bit ambiguous, but it seems like there is a better way to come back from the temple," Hera explained, remembering what Johnny told her. If everything went the way she hoped, she would find the temple and be one step closer to the Blademaster.