Chapter Eighty-Nine

"Thank you," The skeleton sighed in relief as it dropped its shoulders with a deep breath. Edward wasn't sure if skeletons even needed to breathe, but this one seemed to make it seem so natural, "I thought I would burn. You wouldn't believe how much flames hurt because of my form. It's like an entire star is dropped on my body."

"Who are you?" Edward asked. The skeleton nodded, then put its hand to its chest.

"I am Aelor," the skeleton answered. Then Aelor took a few steps forward and extended his hand in greeting, "It's nice to meet you. You're not the first human I've ever met, but you're the scariest for sure."

Edward looked at Aelor's hand in silence for a moment, his mind considering whether he should foster a relationship with an undead monster in the first place. However, because Aelor seemed intelligent enough to have a calm conversation with, Edward eventually decided it was worth the risk. He met Aelor's hand with his own, then gave it a firm shake.

"Thanks," Edward told him. After a moment, Aelor looked back to his armor and began to don it once more. Now that Edward had calmed down, Aelor saw no need to remain nude. As Aelor crouched down, Edward looked back at him and asked, "Have you seen anybody else recently? Other humans?"

"No. The last time I saw a human was a few decades ago— when a mage killed me with a fireball spell," Aelor answered, "Not many get low enough to meet the basic skeleton soldiers, much less the champions."

"What do you mean a mage killed you? Are you able to respawn?"

"Yes, though I don't really like it. The pleasures of being a dungeon monster," Aelor chuckled. He stood up, as he fidgeted with the tightness of his glove, and looked back at Edward, "It's not a pleasant process, but it's necessary. The dungeon would run out of enemies if the monsters never came back, after all. Who are you looking for?"

"My friends. The boss on the third floor exploded," Edward began to explain, "I thought it would've killed us all, but I think it teleported us instead."

"The gorilla? That's unfortunate, friend," Aelor smiled, "You're on the seventh floor, now. Even the weakest enemies here will be strong enough to seem elite compared to the third floor."

'I can see that,' Edward thought to himself as he looked at Aelor's stats. Despite him being an ordinary monster, he was just as powerful as the elite gorillas Edward fought earlier that day— perhaps even more so. 

"Listen. I may be a monster, but I think I might be able to help you," Aelor suggested, "Why don't you come to my clan— explain the situation to my chieftain. If we see your friends, we might be able to bring them to you."

'His chieftain?' Edward thought to himself. Then, with a wry smile, he looked at Aelor and asked, "You're not going to kill me or anything, are you?"

"No, we won't, I promise," Aelor said to him, "Though I'll be honest, I won't be helping you for free. My chief may want to speak with you after you've reunited with your friends. If you help us then we'll help you, deal?"

Edward stared at Aelor for a moment, then looked back to the notification explaining the details of named monsters. His eyes settled upon the sentence explaining their nature as possible allies and legal citizens. If Aelor wanted to, he would be allowed inside Pathe in an instant, despite his appearance.

'I shouldn't be treating him as an ordinary monster. The fact that he wants my help is proof of that,' Edward thought to himself. He looked back up at Aelor, then smiled. As Edward extended his hand, Aelor grasped it and returned a large smile.

"Great!" Aelor cheered as their hands separated once more. He looked to Edward, then continued, "I'll go ahead and lead you to my clan— though you'll have to do everything I say in the process, okay?"

"Why?" Edward asked. He didn't mean to oppose Aelor's authority— he was simply curious, "What's waiting for us between here and your clan?"

"Monsters," Aelor answered, "My clan only occupies a small portion of this floor. None of the other monsters are sentient, so they'll all turn hostile if they see us. That's why I was alone when you met me— smaller groups attract less attention. Not to mention, when you entered the dungeon a few days ago, you reset the entire floor plan— multiple times by the way! We don't know where the monsters surrounding my clan have been relocated to, so we have to be extra careful."

"I see. What should we be expecting?" Edward asked, "Do they look like you?"

To his surprise, Aelor quickly shook his head. Edward was expecting all of the enemies on the seventh floor to look the same— considering that had been the pattern of the dungeon's floors so far— but Aelor quickly explained the situation to him.

"Most of the monsters on this floor aren't the original occupants— that would be my clan," Aelor told him, "If we run into anybody that looks like me it's safe to say they're allies. Our concern is with the other monsters, the ones that came from the eighth floor."

'Eighth floor?'

"I'm confused," Edward said. Aelor smiled and nodded.

"I know— it's probably not what you were expecting," chuckled, "As we walk to the clan, I'll explain the situation in more detail. For now, just know that the monsters we'll face won't look like me. They'll be bigger and stronger— not to mention they'll be wearing plate armor. They're called the Champions."

"What do we do if we run into one?"

"Usually, we would run like hell. Their entire body is covered in armor and they specialize in defense," Aelor answered. His eyes drifted to Edward's hands and a cruel smile appeared on his face, "But this time, I think we might be able to kill a few."