Path to freedom

Despite Hera's wishes, they didn't leave right away. Becca had to talk with a few people, and Zestra needed to get something from one of his contacts. This gave the Empress one more day to let her dad and her friends know she would be traveling with Becca. She made sure not to mention where she was going since she didn't want to involve anyone with what she was about to do. Zestra also helped her set up a single sheet of paper in her room to create a message after a set time. However, the spy told her to wait before making that since they still didn't have a timeframe for when they might return.

Hera ended up being more cryptic than she would have liked when talking with her friends and family, but no one pressured her for answers. This was more due to the lie she had to tell them. Instead of saying she would try to break people out of a blacksite, she said she was going to help Becca with an article that she couldn't say anything about.

The next day came along, and the Empress did her best to prepare for her journey. She got a few potions and salves from Risli that could help her heal wounds and cleanse toxins from the body and told Ritugan that she was going after Silah and the others. That was something that both Becca and Zestra agreed to, but she shouldn't say anything about the location, just that she had a lead.

As the three of them left Boothudurn and headed to the Kobold Road, Zestra once again turned invisible. He would be like that during the entire journey, using a lesser version of his invisibility spell that was more cost-efficient but more easily detectable. From there, they went to another room called 'Wallflower Den.' A place made only by hanging gardens of multicolored flowers. Most of them were actually monsters, and people tended to avoid this room just because of how annoying it was to deal with it, but this was the best path they could take. Only after they had already arrived in that room and were deep into the hanging gardens, away from people, did Becca talk about what they were doing. However, before starting, she used that spell to hide their conversation again.

"Ok, so here. You are going to need this, Hera," Becca gave her a silver ring with what looked like a diamond in the center. It was a very simple cut, but very beautiful too.

"Oh, Becca. I do, but you'll have to get my dad's permission first," Hera gave an exaggerated expression like a character in a cartoon. That move made an invisible Zestra snort and start laughing.

Becca chuckled, "I'm glad you are in high spirits. But just to make it clear, I'm not asking you to marry me."

"I kind of figured. That would be a bit too quick," Hera smiled and used [Inspect] on the ring. All it did was increase her luck by 1 point.

"From what Becca told me, I was expecting you to be more upset," Zestra said in a whisper.

"I probably would if this happened before I got stuck. Don't get me wrong, I'm very upset, and the moment we get closer I will break down the fucking walls to get them out. I just learned how to compartmentalize my anxiety. Otherwise, I would've spent months stressed out about everything that was going on there. Honestly, I think I'm even trying to overcorrect here. This kind of joke is not something I would normally do," Hera said, feeling that burning anger inside her chest growing as she thought about Silah. Yet, she locked that down. This wasn't the moment to let this loose.

"I get the feeling, but you are not being literal, are you?" Zestra asked.

"I don't know. We didn't talk about the plan yet."

"Yeah, we are not talking about it for now. We need to get there and scout the area a bit before formulating a proper plan," Becca explained.

"I do have some ideas. I think I was one of the people who studied the plans for the prison the most," Zestra's voice came from between the two women.

"But you are not the one making the plan. I cannot stress this enough," Becca sighed.

"What? It was because of my plan that we got all of that intel," Zestra scoffed.

"Yeah, but that was a stealthy operation. We are talking about a rescue mission now. And your plan involved you attracting a bird to hit the barrier they set up while you jumped over the wall. That's a half a second window to pass without being seen? Do you expect people who were being captive able to do something like that?" Becca rolled her eyes.

"What? Of course not! My plan involves us going in there, taking out all the guards, and then rescuing everyone."

"And you think we can knock them all out before any alarms are triggered?"

"If we get them in the right order, yes!"

"Someone else is in charge of the plan. They have a bit more experience in things like that?" Becca waved the spy off.

"You have someone who has experience in this kind of thing?" Hera looked at Becca.

"Not this this, but they liberated a few animals from places that were doing experiments on them, and they go around doing dungeons about rescuing people as a hobby."

"You forgot to add that he is part of the special forces and has done several rescue missions in the past. Trust me, you don't want him to be the one to remind you of that. His stories are way too detailed," Zestra sighed, now his voice coming from behind them.

"So yeah, they have experience. Now what I wanted to say is how we are getting there. Like I said, we would be 40 rooms away, but since your luck is at 100, we can take a different route," Becca continued.

"What does my luck have to do with anything?" Hera tilted her head.

"There is a dungeon in the room we are going to that has a door which can only be opened by the 'Lucky ones.' This means that everyone has a chance to see that door open, but if your luck goes past 100, it will always be open. That door is a shortcut tour destination. Instead of going through 40 rooms, we will only need to pass 12. The problem was that the lucky door only let two people pass before closing and asking for the next 'Lucky one.' That's why I called a friend to help us out. She can have her luck at 100 for long enough to open the door. The cherry on top is that she also has a mount that can carry people over water. The shortcut is across a leg of the ocean, so that was a bonus. Then again, you might be able to take care of that yourself," Becca continued.

"Depends on the situation, but between Livy and Nimbus, yeah. I should be able to. Then again, having someone else is better. My court has a limited range of motion," Hera explained.

"Right. Can you explain those details about your legacy now? We got the gist of it, but if we are going to rescue people, it would help if we all knew what each other can do," Zestra suggested, his voice coming from a few meters in front of them but still in a whisper.

Hera nodded and asked for the same while starting to talk more about her court. She didn't go into the details about changing blades, and mentioning all the increase in damage felt unnecessary, but she talked about everything else. The distance the court could be from her, how they moved, and the utility skills they had. Hera also mentioned the Viper's Pit bracelet and how she could create snakes for scouting and the Pool of Styx spell that could lower the attributes of anyone weaker than her. Even adding that Lurize might be able to create spell circles in a large area while in his beetle form.

Becca and Zestra listened closely, and when she was done, they started talking about their own abilities. The spy began, and as one would expect, he focused a lot on stealth and scouting. He wasn't much of a fighter, but if push came to shove, he could use several gadgets to stop people from chasing after him. There was also the option for him to take a more deadly route, killing people with strikes from the shadows. But he said it himself. This wasn't his forté. Becca was in a similar position. She was a fighter, and her skills were mostly focused on surviving and running. Not to mention the camera skill she got after completing the challenge of the tower with Bright Night and Dark Star. Her ideal position wouldn't be participating in the prison break but being behind and ensuring they had a clear escape route. If she had to fight, she would prefer to use her fists but could improvise weapons without any problems. Becca dreamt of being a reporter since she was young. Because of that, most of her skills were focused on surveillance, movement, and the occasional self-defense in strange situations.

If rescuing those people were up to this group, they all agreed that Hera would end up doing the heavy lifting. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Another half a dozen people were heading to the room where the prison was located and they would be the ones with skills and experience that would make a difference for this situation. After a four-hour journey, the group arrived at a small clearing where the guild had set up a campsite close to the doorway. Since they had to wait a day to use it to avoid the risk of getting stuck somewhere, Becca told them they would be sleeping here tonight.

"Do you want me to make a stone tent?" Hera asked while Becca was pulling a small cylinder from her bag.

"Only if you want. I have a tent here that is more than big enough for the two of us," Becca turned to the Empress, who just gestured for her to continue. Opening the cylinder cap, a tent large enough for 4 people appeared in a flurry of movement already stuck to the ground and set up, "This also has some monster-repellent properties, internal heating, and it comes with a pair of air mattresses. And a barrier just to make sure we wouldn't get hurt if something manages to attack us."

"Yeah, never mind. My idea was a stone box," Hera shook her head.

The three of them went inside the tent and slept for the night, avoiding any kind of hot meal since the smell could let people track them. Zestra slept on the ground to avoid anyone realizing three people were here. Even if there wasn't anyone around, they were being very careful about their actions. The last thing any of them wanted was to lose the element of surprise.

The next day, they crossed another room called 'Lost Ground.' It was a desolate place where all the trees were dead and charred, yet they still grew. This would be the first place that had no settlements or anything like it. People tried to build houses here, but whatever killed the flora also corroded any structure people tried to make here. When they arrived at the doorway leading to the 'Volcanic Island,' they stopped to wait for someone. This was the person who would help them open the lucky door in a dungeon.

It took a couple of hours, but eventually, they saw something approaching at high speeds. Whoever it was, was mounted on a Lung Dragon that was running through the dead ground. When they got closer, the person on top jumped, doing a flip in the air and landing behind Hera and the others. She had ash blonde hair tied to her shoulder in a half ponytail. Crystal blue eyes with long dark lashes contrasting her light coffee skin. At first glance, this was a petite woman despite being around 1.70 meters tall. However, on a closer look, one could see the toned muscles of someone who spent most of their time doing heavy physical activity.

The woman wore a light blue silk shirt with long flowing, off-the-shoulder sleeves, a four-inch thick off-white belt with silver details in a feather-like pattern, and navy blue leggings. Covering her almost non-existing breasts was a light silver chest plate that looked like four wings enveloping her body. There were also some arm plates and knee guards that were part of the same set, following the same wing motifs. As a matter of fact, most of her items had feathers as the theme. Holding all the pieces of armor together were rose vines, and tiny feathers weaved together to create something akin to leather, very reminiscent of the armor the children of the sky would wear. She also had three simple silver bands on her left arm that broke from the 'tradition' of the rest of her clothes being completely flat without any detailing. On her right hip was a silver dagger with a very long blade in a sheathe resembling a wing. A dark oak staff with a mana stone on each end was held onto her back in a way that didn't seem to hinder her movements. The last thing that caught Hera's attention was the small ear cuff depicting a silver dragon with a blue gem in its mouth in the woman's left ear.

"Ok, tell me honestly. How was that landing?" the woman opened a big smile towards Becca.

"The flip was good, but the landing needs work. You didn't even strike a pose," Becca teased before going in to give the woman a hug. When that was over, she stepped back and gestured to Hera, "This is Freya."

"Hi, I'm Hera," the Empress smiled and put out her hand.

"Hey. Nice to meet you. You seem familiar," Freya frowned as she shook Hera's hand.

"Really? I don't think we've ever met," Hera frowned, too, mirroring the woman's face. She was sure this was the first time they had seen each other.

"A while back, I interviewed her. Maybe you watched it," Becca suggested.

"Could be," Freya shrugged, "Should we get going? We have a lot of ground to cover."