Inside the mansion

'I was really pumped up after hearing old man Kent's voice for the first time in a while but...'

Cal's hands were shaking.

'WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS?!' Cal held the beautiful shortsword up in the air, even with the dungeon's dim and dark atmosphere, it shined bright.

'Oh gods, they're gonna come for me, Chimey you saw it right!? Those piles of bones next to that guy?! He's a certified skeleton murderer! And I bet those skeletons didn't even try to steal such a precious sword from him!'

Chimey couldn't care less about some stupid sword that wasn't even edible, that name pissed him off more than anything. It responded back with an angry chime and a message. [First off, don't call me Chime-]

'Table that discussion for later Chimey! We have a disaster on our hands!' Cal's thoughts shouted over the system's incessant dings.

Cal could care less about the system's feelings at the moment.

He had been a part of the Black Bear guild for over 6 years now, and in that time he had grown accustomed to the guild's mannerisms and behaviours, he could predict their next move even without being near them

Not only had adventurers almost died in the dungeon, a situation that was already rare, but the adventurer had also collapsed after fighting a Gnoll near the dungeon's entrance. Gnolls were creatures who most believed remained in their dwelling near the pit of the dungeon, guarding the treasures within, such a departure from the status quo could only bring about one thing.

A cataclysmic event for the skeleton.

'A-ranks! They're gonna bring out the A ranks for sure!!!' Cal compulsively bit his finger-tip bones with his teeth, chewing them in stress.

Chimey had never seen Cal like this.

For Chimey, Cal was a companion who it had been stuck with inside a dangerous place, it didn't understand Cal's situation very well but it still instinctively wanted the best for him. The skeleton was a creature who greatly interested the system, it tended to observe the boy's actions and follow his demands than try to overtly help.

But now, Chimey felt a little scared, or at least, an emotion that the system thought was fear.

[Cal... are these people strong? The A-ranks?] chimed Chimey.

The skeleton's eye flashed.

'A-ranks coming to a lower rank dungeon like this means only one thing...' Cal dropped the sword from high and pointed its blade at the orange screen.

'Complete annihilation.'

*****

Outside the dungeon, within an elaborately decorated room, a girl was trying to get out of her bed with urgency.

"Miss Prim, you should get some more res-"

*BANG*

Alex smashed her fist down onto her bedside cabinet. Her face was twisted into a scowl.

"I know what I saw Callahan. It's real." Alex said through gritted teeth. She had woken up inside her mansion a few days ago, although after hearing her story, the master of the mansion had ordered her to rest for another week; such a command from her father had infuriated her.

"Ah..." Callahan shifted his feet in discomfort, he hadn't seen this side of her in years. Usually, her calm and dignified demeanor was what she presented to the outside world, yet currently, she was furiously stating her case with no intention of backing off.

"Miss, like I said, I completely understand what you thought you saw-" Alex cut off Callahan's attempts to reconcile.

"What I 'thought'? Huh, not even my own attendant has any belief in me." she said, turning away from Callahan's face.

"I apologise Miss Prim... it's just that... a friendly skeleton-"

"Is what I saw! I saw him, Callahan!" Alex furiously protested. Never had she had to fight against him to believe her words, Callahan was one of the few people who trusted her implicitly, no matter the stakes.

The attendant looked at Alex with a complicated expression. In any normal situation, Callahan would've stuck by her, regardless of what her family or the public would think. However, in the case of a friendly-medicine-feeding-skeleton...

"And! And!" Alex continued her rant, ignoring Callahan.

"That bastard took my Star!" She screamed, thrusting one of her short swords in the air while her other hand was spayed out in a dramatic fashion.

Alex treasured her short swords beyond any other material possession she had acquired, a precious gift from her doting grandmother whom she loved so much. Alex was told that the swords had been named "Star" and "Moon" by a master craftsman not of this land, using those two in unison made each attack sharper and more devastating. The two swords, when brought together, were worth more than the sum of their parts.

"Of course! Losing Star is a tragedy for sure! However, the dungeon clear requested by your Grandmother is only a few days away! I'm sure that your sword can be recovered from wherever it was dropped!" Callahan said, reassuring Alex while diverting her attention from the damn skeleton she hadn't shut up about.

"Callahan..." her voice had regressed from yelling and was now speaking to him in a normal tone, Callahan took this as a good sign and asked her with a smile.

"Yes Miss Prim?"

"I didn't drop it."

"Ah..." Callahan's diversion attempts fell flat on their face.

Alex stared outside the window, her mind reeling with thoughts. She knew how crazy she sounded, how ridiculous her attempts at convincing Callahan and her grandma were; hell, if she were told this by another, she would've labeled them a nutcase before they managed to get a second sentence out of their mouth! But that wasn't the case.

Everyone who visited her and listened to her story simply wrote it off as the babblings of a young woman who went through a near-death experience, most of them believed that she had "thought" she saw it; none believed in the idea of a "friendly skeleton" who was also a sword stealing bandit.

Alex had begged her grandma to hear her out but the old woman simply wrapped Alex in a hug and told her to get some rest, the girl knew that everyone just wanted the best for her, but it didn't make the situation any less frustrating.

Beyond the overwhelming curiosity of having met a friendly skeleton, she wanted to clear her name, to show everyone that her words weren't something so light as to be written off.

"I'll find him Callahan" she said, turning away from the window and facing Callahan's worried eyes.

"I'll find him for sure." her tone was unwavering.

Callahan pursed his lips, he sincerely hoped that Alex would let go of this and get some rest instead, but it seemed like she had no intention of doing so.

"..."

After a beat, Callahan replied to her.

"I shall do my best to assist you, Miss Prim."