It took the recruits about 10 minutes to calm down. The whole class celebrated not only Bonnie's accomplishment but all of them reaching the goal. A lot of people cheered at their accomplishment. Apparently, it was rare for a full class to complete the first challenge given by their instructor. Mr. Greyson just gave them a satisfied nod and told everyone to hit the showers. Yet, most of the recruits didn't move.

  "Do you think we are going to train like that every day?" Alex asked, still lying on the floor looking at the ceiling.

  "I don't know, but I hope not. My hands have been numb for the past hour," Leonidas had his back against a dummy who was turned off. Too tired to even find a proper place to rest.

  "If even the golden boy is tired, imagine how we mere mortals feel. I think I could sleep for a month." Pamella teased Leonidas. She was lying on a bench behind Hera, who was leaning against her.

  "Well, that would explain how much you ate during lunch. Honestly, where did all that food go?" Leonidas answered. Pamella tried to push him with her feet, but she was too far away, and too tired to get up.

  "That is called a healthy appetite. And I'm not gonna apologize for it"

  Hera laughed at Blue's response.

  "She's right, Leo, we are spending a lot of energy here. Maybe we should eat more," Hera stepped in to defend Blue.

  Alex raised her head, looking at the two girls on the bench "Are you sure you're not just saying that as an excuse to get another ice cream?"

  Hera pouted, "I like ice cream. Is that so wrong?"

  Pamella put her arm around Hera, "Of course not, they are just a pair of food snobs. We should go out to dinner and eat as much as we want. And leave both of them here," Hera chuckled and tried to fight off the slightly uncomfortable feeling of suddenly being hugged.

  "Maybe some other time. I'm exhausted. And you don't seem to be so energetic either," Hera replied.

  Pamella quickly got up from the bench, "What do you mean? I'm great," She started to walk around, but it took only a few steps for her whole body to start to hurt. Anyone who watched her could tell she was having problems moving around.

  "See, I'm fine." Pamella gave them a crooked smile.

  "Blue, you flinch each time you step. You are far from fine. We are all pretty banged up" Leonidas got up looking like an old man, even placing one hand on his back.

  "Yes, we should all go home and rest. I'll be going to the showers first." Bonnie walked past the group. At first glance, she seemed to be fine, but before she even got out of the training room, she had to stop and catch her breath.

  "She's right, you know, we can hang out after the training. Right now, we all need to rest and be ready for tomorrow," Hera said while getting up. A few other recruits were already heading towards the locker rooms.

  "Fine, I need my beauty sleep. But we are stopping by our class first. I want to use my new conditioner," Blue replied.

  Leo rolled his eyes and helped Alex up. Soon, the group left the training room while a few Explorers watched the scene.

  Hera stopped at a small grocery store near her home. She picked a few fruits, some pre-made pasta and a few pieces of candy. Unlike her usual purchases, these were all branded products. She knew that it was almost no different from her usual generic brands, but she had already received the payment for the skills. She could afford to be a bit more lavish. Even if it was just for a day.

  After choosing what she wanted, Hera walked towards the register. Today the owner's granddaughter was working the night shift. She was a nice girl, or at the very least she was polite, even if a bit sarcastic at times.

  "Good evening, Hera" the girl gave a soft smile while she started to check out the products.

  "Hi, Amanda, how are you?" Hera did her best to check in with the owners of the grocery store now and then. This had been her first job, she only left because the store started to have some problems and they couldn't afford her.

  Hera never felt bad about that. The owners were a sweet couple who let her work here without any experience. They even rented her a back room in their house when she first moved here. She knew that if it weren't because of them, a girl fresh out of high school would never be able to survive in the city.

  "I'm fine, just tired. At least we are closing soon. Grandma won't work today, and I can't stay late on a school night." Amanda yawned. She felt more comfortable around Hera since the woman was the one who trained her.

  "Why is she not working today? Is your grandmother ok?" Hera took a step forward, leaning into the counter.

  "Yeah, she's fine. It was their anniversary on Monday, and they went on a week-long trip. Grandpa wanted to go skiing. I hope I will have their energy when I'm that old" Both of them laughed.

  Mr. and Ms. Kahele always had young souls. Last year, both of them went skydiving on their anniversary. The image of an 80-year-old couple jumping off a plane was incredible, to say the least.

  "Hum, Hera, I think you got the wrong oranges," Amanda said, noticing the final price of the purchase.

  Amanda knew enough about work to understand the usual prices. Even with the more expensive items, there was no way that Hera's purchase should cost more than 35 gold. However, the final price was over 58 gold. Looking at the list of products, she noticed that the bag with a dozen oranges cost a whooping 28 gold, and that price already had a discount applied to it.

  "No, I got the right ones. I always wanted to try these New Dawn Farm products. And since I... " Hera realized that she haven't told anyone about her new job. Looking at Amanda, she decides not to tell her just yet. There were two people that Hera wanted to be the first to know, "Since I got a bonus at work, I'm giving myself a treat."

  Amanda gave a warm smile, "Good for you! I honestly don't remember the last time I heard you talk about doing something for yourself. Please do that more often you deserve it. And don't let the fact that I'm a kid stop you from following my advice."

  Hera giggled "Oh, so you are a kid? " Hera placed her card in the machine, paying for the purchase. At the same time, Amanda's expression darkened.

  "I'm not 18, am I?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

  "You are right. Thank you very much for your advice. I will keep it in mind."

  Hera grabbed her groceries and walked towards the door. Before she left the store, Amanda asked in a soft voice.

  "Don't tell them I said that."

  Hera looked back and answered with a smile

  "Your secret is safe with me, kid."

  Amanda rolled her eyes at that answer with a fake annoyed expression.

  Less than twenty minutes later, Hera opened her front door. It was still her old studio apartment, with tacky flowered wallpaper and a moss green carpet covering the whole place. Leaving only the kitchen and the bathroom with dirty tan tiles. To her, this place had always been the only depressing dump she could afford. Now it was the home she had when her life changed.

  Realizing how hungry she was, Hera quickly put away the groceries and started to make her dinner. Tonight's dish, chicken ravioli with veggies.

  Once she had nothing else to do but wait for her meal to cook, Hera picked up the bag of oranges and looked at the label. The logo was a small holographic design of a sun rising on the horizon by a field.

  New Dawn Farm.

  Magically Enhanced Organic Oranges.

  The ingredients for a better life.

  New Dawn was a company famous for dealing with magical items. It was well known that they bought those items from explorers and then used them to produce or improve other products. Hera wasn't sure how that worked. The guild would buy the products from explorers and resell them, or would the negotiation be made directly with who found the item?

  Still, the company was among the most successful ones out there. A bit over a month ago, an article in a magazine said that the New Dawn company was worth more than roughly half the countries in the world.

  Their products would range from pharmaceutical to textiles. The farms were a new branch of the company that started to sell products a little over six months ago. According to what she had read, any food that they sell had magical properties that not only improved the flavor but also could make someone healthier.

  That last part always bugged Hera. Why would a company make a product that competes with itself? What was the point of making medicine if you were also making food that helps you heal?

  Picking three of those oranges, she made a glass of orange juice to drink with her dinner. Before grabbing the sugar, she took a sip of the juice, curious about the natural flavor.

  A sweet citric flavor overwhelmed Hera, it refreshed her in a way that seemed impossible. The taste kept going and seemed to even expand past her body. For a moment, she believed that even her sweat would have that same flavor.

  Less than ten minutes later, Hera was sitting at her desk with her dinner in front of her. She opened her tablet and looked for something interesting to watch while she ate.

  She was about to pick an old favorite, the warrior princess, when her eyes went to something else. It was the guild streaming service. There she could find the movies and shows that were not censored. Tapping the app, the first thing that appeared was a playlist called 'The 3 Heroes'. A documentary about Khan, a political thriller mini series about Cyrus, an action movie about Undine.

  Deciding to watch that, Hera chose to start off with the documentary. She would watch them all in chronological order. Ending with Undine since she was the most recent Hero.

  After choosing it, there was a small advertisement for the Olympics. Hera had completely forgotten about that. The opening show would be on Sunday, and maybe this time she could watch it live.

  Early next morning, Hera gave up on training before class. Instead, she let herself rest and went to prepare some breakfast. Looking through her fridge, she stared at the New Dawn Oranges. It seemed a waste to eat them all quickly. She picked a few other fruits to make a fruit salad.

  Ready to eat her breakfast, Hera went to her phone and sent two texts. One to her grandmother and the other to her father. Both were essentially the same. She just said that she wanted to see them that weekend, and that she had some good and exciting news to share.

  After that, she replied to a few texts from her friends who still worked at the bookstore. They were worried and just wanted to be sure she was doing well. With a soft smile, she texted back saying that she was great, that she quit because she got a new job and that the next weeks will be a bit crazy because of it.

  She wanted to tell them the good news. But for some reason, she felt like it would be unfair not to tell her family first. It sounded a bit stupid when she thought about it. Still, that seemed like the best idea.

  Finishing her meal, Hera went to do the dishes that she had left soaking. She wasn't sure how the training would go, so doing it at night was not an option. After everything was done, she still had over half an hour before she needed to leave. Opening the fridge again, she stared at the oranges.

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  "You know, Amanda was right. I should spoil myself sometimes" She picked 3 of the oranges and made a glass of juice.

  That same amazing taste and feeling washed over her. It was almost addictive, but in a good way. Like eating an exquisite slice of cake. And it ended so quickly that she felt saddened. Not wanting to let this go, she drank another glass. Then a third one. Using all the remaining 9 oranges in a single go.

  Once she was done, Hera looked a the clock and rushed to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

  "Argh!!" She quickly spat out.

  She completely forgot the only rule about orange juice. Even the magical oranges tasted awful when paired with toothpaste. Luckily, she managed to endure the taste long enough to finish brushing her teeth. And now, she was ready to go.

  It took her less than forty minutes to arrive at the guild. With half an hour to spare, Hera went to the training room. However, this time she wanted to watch the seasoned explorers practicing. Yet, before reaching that area, a guild clerk approached her.

  "Excuse me, Hera?"

  She looked to the side and saw Carol, the attendant that Hera meet early this week. The same one that didn't believe she had leveled up. Still, going automatically back to her bookstore ways, she opened a customer service smile.

  "Oh hi, Carol is it? Can I help you? It's a lovely day, isn't it?"

  As Carol approached, Hera's eyes darted to her hair, noticing the messy bun, then to her feet, realizing the clerk seemed to have dropped a bit of water on her shoes, then to her neck that had a cute clover shaped mole, her sleeves were very tidy, but the left one had a small speck of yellow, and the golden Guild pin on the right side of her chest reflecting the ceiling lights.

  Hera's eyes continued to scan the woman while Carol spoke.

  "I wanted to apologize. I didn't know about your level up and should have done a better job checking. Again, I'm sorry. I was having a really crappy day, and a lot of weird people started to show up only to give me more trouble. Even so, none of that is your fault, and you deserve to be treated better than that."

  The apology surprised Hera. Even if she felt wronged at the time, the matter wasn't enough to warrant an apology.

  "Don't worry about it. Any work can be troublesome. Besides, everything worked out. I'm okay now, actually, I'm great! Really, really great!"

  Carol raised one eyebrow. She noticed how the girl was acting weird. Even in that small exchange, she seemed to have trouble focusing on one thing. Her biggest concern was Hera's eyes. They were wide in an almost unnatural way.

  "Thank you. I was really worried about how you were feeling. By the way, did Helena find you? She was asking around if you had arrived already."

  Hera looked around " No, I still haven't seen her. Do you know what she wants? Is something urgent? Is something bad? Is she ok? "

  The girl is talking too fast. There is something wrong. Carol had no doubt about it.

  "I don't know. She probably is in our breakroom. Come with me, I'll take you there."

  Hera gave her a big smile.

  "Sure!"

  The two of them walked side by side. Hera kept looking everywhere, her head snapping almost dangerously fast every time she shifted her focus. Before long, the two of them arrived at the breakroom. Helena was sitting on a couch with a book in hand.

  "Hey Carol, Hera! What brings you here?

  Carol grabbed Hera's hand and pulled her towards the couch.

  "You need to take a look at her now! Something feels wrong."

  Helena frowned. There were very few times were Carol had this type of reaction, and none of them were good.

  "Okay, Hera, sit here dear," The mage got up and pointed to the middle of the couch.

  "Okay, but I'm fine, I'm great actually," Hera answered with a smile, letting her body fall on the couch, making a bit of noise with the impact.

  Carol and Helena glanced at each other.

  "Hera, sweetie, did you do anything different these days?" Helena took a knee in front of her as stared deep into her eyes.

  "Well, I started the explorer training, but I felt like I didn't belong there since I'm older than the rest. Then I learned a map skill. It seems really useful, but here it's just better if I use the map app on my phone. My skill is still not as good. Then, trained with swords, they are fun, but I still wanna try other weapons. Mr. Greyson told me I was already an explorer and wouldn't kick me out unless I did something really bad. Since then, I'm feeling lighter than ever. Well, after that and the oranges. I also went by a grocery store near my home to treat myself, and then I got here. That's all I did differently these days, aside from the level up of course, but you know that part, Helena."

  Hera said everything in a single breath. As she spoke, Helena, who was staring at her, grew darker, her hair started to change to an impossibly deep black, and started to move around, flowing towards Hera.

  "What oranges, sweetie?" Helena's voice felt cold and distant as if it came from another room.

  Hera still had her eyes locked with Helena's.

  "Oh, those New Dawn Farm ones, I always wanted to try. They are amazing. Do you want to try one? I can rush to a grocery store to pick one up. I think it will be enough time. Or if you can wait, I'll go after the class. I really don't want to be late for Mr. Greyson's lecture."

  Helena's eyes turned pitch black, and her hair started to leak around her, the shadows in the room grew more intense and the light scurried away.

  At this moment, Hera was mesmerized. She could see small streaks of blue, purple, white and red running through the darkness. Each color had a different appearance. The blue light ran as if it were inside a vein, spreading and looping. Red streaks seemed to be small flies buzzing around, leaving trails as if they were airplanes in the sky. The white glow seemed to come from under the darkness as if it was trying to seep through cracks in a glass window. And the purple sparkles were like fireworks that danced around Helena's face.

  "Now, Hera, I'm sorry, sweetie, but this is for your own good"

  Hera realized that there was one more thing moving around that area, and that was the darkness, it looked like a mix of smoke and shadow, and it started to wrap around her hands and torso. Yet, her attention went back to the light show around Helena's face. She started to feel a bit light-headed, the lights began to vanish and her mind to focus.

  Shaking her head, she looked again at Helena. Only her face was visible, and her eyes were completely black. Looking at them was the same as looking at the darkness behind her. Hera swallowed her saliva, too scared to do anything. Feeling a soft pain where the shadows had wrapped her body, Hera bit her tongue so she wouldn't say anything.

  It took over a minute for the shadows to retreat and go back inside Helena, but for Hera, it seemed much more time had passed.

  Carol watched the room grow dark, making Hera vanish in the shadows. When she reappeared, the darkness was still wrapped around her body. Carol knew that was just Helena's magic, but it was still a frightening sight to behold.

  The light came back to the room, the shadows turned back to normal and Helena blinked her eyes a few times before they regained their natural color. She got up and sat down on a chair, breathing heavily and rubbing her eyes.

  "Helena, are you alright?" Carol gave her a glass of water.

  "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a bit tiring. How about you, Hera?"

  After being released from the shadows, Hera's whole body felt heavy, and she had a splitting headache. She looked at Helena and Carol, but the bright light on the ceiling made her close her eyes.

  "I'm... tired, and my head is killing me." She answered in a weak voice.

  Carol went to a cabinet on the wall and grabbed some medicine, along with a glass of water.

  "Here, drink this. It will help."

  Hera nodded, "What just happened?"

  Helena stared at her "You didn't listen to the warnings on the label. That's what happened."

  Hera looked back at her "What label? "

  "The New Dawn Farm products are filled with mana, and in the package. There is a warning telling people that they shouldn't consume more than a specific quantity every 24h unless their level is high. You didn't even see it, did you?"

  Hera looked to the ground. She never even considered side effects. After all, they were oranges. Who would read the label on something like this?

  "I'm... I'm sorry" Once again, Helena had to step in and save her. She already felt like she owed her a lot. This was just one more thing on the tab.

  "It is okay sweetie, you didn't know. For future reference, magic rich food can help you a lot, but it can also make you a bit crazy. For someone at level two, the effect is close to a drug." Helena explained in a soft tone.

  The information shocked Hera. How was it possible that a company that big would be selling something like this with no problems?

  "But... if it is a drug, why are people letting them sell it at a grocery store? It should be controlled, right?"

  "It definitely should. But it's easier said than done. New Dawn is a powerful company. And they just argue that their fruits and vegetables are just superfoods, one should not go over the recommended dose. And that is enough for them to get away with it," Helena huffed.

  "Well anyway, thank you for accepting my apology, Hera. I hope to see your graduation soon." Since Hera was looking better, and Helena was around. Carol took a chance to escape this situation. This was well above her pay grade as a civilian.

  A few moments after Carol left, feeling better, Hera stared at Helena, trying to see if those glowing lights would show up near her again.

  "Hera, you are staring, dear" Helena chuckled.

  "Sorry. I'm trying to see if those glowing lights were just part of the high," She looked away, but it didn't take long for her to try again.

  "What glowing lights?" Helena raised one eyebrow.

  "They were around you while you were... doing something with your magic. There was a blue, a red, a white and a purple one, but I can't remember where they were."

  Helena adjusted herself in the chair, "Hera, please tell me exactly what you remember," her voice serious.

  Surprised, Hera described, to the best of her abilities, what each color did and when she saw it, with Helena asking a few specific questions during the process.

  After she was done questioning Hera, Helena got up and sat down beside the recruit before giving her a big hug.

  For some reason, it didn't bother Hera when she was hugged by Helena. She wasn't sure why, but it felt more natural than what Blue did.

  "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that helped," Helena said without letting the girl go.

  "Sure, but what did I do?" Hera asked, unsure of what had just happened.

  "You just gave me the information I needed for my research. It's a bit too technical, and I still need to analyze things, but I think you just told me my current elemental affinities."

  "And... what are elemental affinities?" Hera asked, letting go of the hug.

  With a laugh, Helena replied, "Once again I'm giving you an advanced lesson. Elemental affinities are what we call the types of magic that work well with your mana. As you may have guessed, I have shadow mana."

  Hera's face was that of a deer in the headlights.

  Helena scratched her cheek, "Maybe that was a bit too far. When you go inside the MAZE you are going to feel that energy you felt when you ate the oranges, but to a smaller degree. With time, you will be able to learn magic."

  Helena made a small light appear in her hand. It kept shifting in different colors as if Hera were looking at a diamond.

  "This is raw magic. As time goes on, you can focus the type of mana in your body to a specific element or attribute. Mine is darkness, but some people have fire, water, earth, and even more complex things like gravity, technology or healing."

  The light shifted again, now turning into darkness as if Helena was holding a ball of shadows.

  "Now, if you are a mage, you should have better control of this, and can you make your whole mana turn into the element you want. But that comes with a price, you lose the ability to use some elements, for instance, I can't use light."

  Hera looked at her confused.

  "But you just made a light."

  Helena nodded "Yes, I made a light, but it wasn't a light element skill. Raw magic still allows us to do some basic stuff that looks like a specific element. Or you can convert one element to another. It just gets a lot weaker. Now, you not only lose some elements when you focus your mana, but it becomes really hard to do some advanced spells with other elements. For instance, I have a short-range teleport skill. It's called Shadow Chase, I used it to get between you and Ashe the other day."

  Helena paused, worried Hera would be uncomfortable with the mention of that name. To her surprise, the girl seemed too enthralled by the explanation to be bothered by that.

  "If I were to use a fire type teleport, it would be much more taxing, and much weaker than if I used the Shadow Chase. What I was researching was a way to diminish that problem. I wanted to find out if other elements could benefit from one type of mana. For instance, if my dark mana could be used to fuel a different spell, could it change the spell and make it more powerful? That is my whole research. The main problem was to find out what elements and attributes could work well with it. Trial and error is not really a good way to do this for a few complicated reasons."

  Realizing how much she could have helped Hera gave a big smile.

  "That is amazing, Helena! You are doing such a big thing I'm glad I helped, even if it was just a little."

  "A little? Hera, this is a major breakthrough. You have no idea how much that helped. What you described is what mages know as fire mana for the comet, water mana for the blue one, since it's a body of water. Probably particle or gravity attribute for the purple one, and the white I have to check. It's not light since it's opposite of my mana, but it can be either an element or an attribute."

  Hera smiled at the mage. Helena's face made her look like she was a kid on Christmas day.

  "You know, usually a mage wouldn't talk about their research. Not to anyone, at least." Helena looked in Hera's eyes.

  "Then... why are you telling me?" Hera had a puzzled look on her face.

  "Simple, I want you as my apprentice. You clearly have a way of identifying the elements that one spell uses. It would be stupid of me not to try to get you to help me."

  Hera blushed a bit. She knew some explorers would look for apprentices, but that was a rare thing, at least here on Earth.

  "Shouldn't you look for a mage to help you? I mean, I'm still level 2, and I barely know anything about magic." Hera felt she would drag Helena down. After all, how could a brand recruit help an experienced mage in any way?

  "True, but at the same time, we mages are a prideful bunch. Not only is it really hard to hear a mage asking for help, we all get suspicious of anyone who knows about our research. So, even if another mage is looking for the same thing I am, we wouldn't trade notes. Honestly, I even get a bit paranoid in telling you about this. But if you can see the mana like that when you become a mage, it will be a great help for my research. It's a decision that seems to have more pros than cons"

  Hera listened to her explanation without interrupting. At the same time, a lot of what she said didn't add up. That made Hera cautious, even if it was about the woman who changed her life.

  "I don't mean to be rude.. but why me, Helena? You could get another explorer, a mage or look for anyone else who ate the oranges and saw those lights. Why would you trust me with information about your research?"

  Helena stared at Hera for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh.

  "I've been wondering that myself. The bottom line is, I have a good feeling about you. Call it a hunch or instinct. I just believe you are going to do great things.," the mage pauses, "Also, I put a spell on you that will make you lose the ability to talk if you try to share my research without my permission."

  Hera's eyes went wide. She wasn't thinking about sharing Helena's research, but what if she said something by accident? Seeing her reaction, Helena giggled.

  "Relax, that last part was just a joke. Or was it?"

  Hera wasn't able to get a read on the dark-skinned woman, but at the same time, she believed Helena wouldn't hurt her. The two of them talked for a few more minutes, mostly about how Hera was faring in the training and before they realized it was time for Hera's class.

  "Thanks again, Helena. I don't know what would have happened without you," Hera said when she got up.

  "It wouldn't be that bad, dear. You would just get really hungover after a few hours. After all you are already level 2. It would be different if you were still level 1. Oh, and I forgot to mention, but being my apprentice only works if you become a mage. If not, I can still can scout you for my group. Which will remain nameless until the end of the training."

  Hera nodded, and headed out ready for her second day of classes.

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