Master Of None

Chapter 74: 74. Surprises

Gil and Walker came back to the room at the exact same time. The two exchanged a look and put arms around each others shoulder pushing each other to and fro. This was a bro moment. Both found it comical that they completed their scouting at the same time.

”Ehhmm ladies if your now done flirting...” Remey saw an opportunity to get a good jab in and took it whole heartedly. However, the huge smiles and odd postures of the two made Gil and walker freeze.

”Soo whatʼs are you guys hiding behind your backs?” Gil noticed Remey and Su using her shield to block them from seeing behind them.

”Remey I think itʼs time.” Su looked at Remey and Remey nodded back.

In unison, the pair said ”we present the all new Midnight!!!!” From behind them, Midnight jumped out. However, the stunning part of all this was two small wings down the length of her back. These wings looked to be made of bones. Pure white skeletal bones with a thin black membrane between them making up the wings.

The adult scales around where they were attached had white lines through the mainly black translucent parts.

Gil and walker were dumbfounded ”how! When! What happened!” They were only gone at most an hour or two to scout.

”As soon as you two left midnight kept rubbing on the walls and trying to scratch her back. She had a lot of loose scales so we helped her and before we knew it we saw her wings poking out!” Su and Remey were absolutely giddy. ”We were very worried at first but remembered what you had said.”

Remeys smile was infectious ”we were the first to see Midnightsʼ new wings!” The two seemed to have bonded with midnight through this.

Meanwhile, Midnight was prancing side to side showing off her wings. It was obvious she couldnʼt use them yet as she needed to develop the muscles. Her pride as a dragon swelled now that she had her wings.

”Have you guys ever heard of a skeletal dragon before?” Walkerʼs question caught them off guard. ”I saw it in the book I read while looking for information on dragons. They often consume bones in their life and have extremely high defenses. They have wings very similar to midnights.

If I were to place a bet I would say Midnightsʼ father was a skeletal dragon and she Inherited those wings from her fatherʼs blood. And they look like they have mixed with her mothersʼ black scales. Between a skeletal dragon and a dark flame dragon she would probably be the tougher of the two now because she got the defensive qualities of one and the other.

The party was enthralled by Midnightʼs wings. Normally after seeing so many skeletons seeing something bone like would put them down but this changed their whole perspective. ”Wait does that mean she will lose all her black scales?” Remey seemed dejected that Midnight may grow out of he pure black scales to pale while ones.

”Iʼm not sure it seemed like those ones by her wings are a mix. So in theory sheʼs just getting stronger scales and highlighted colors. I think it looks pretty cool.” After Walkerʼs last sentence midnight puffed her chest up more. She was really enjoying this attention.

”So Gil while weʼre resting again what did you find?” Walker didnʼt think the armor was worth sharing since it wasnʼt valuable.

”It was a dead end only another alter with those religious amulets and a few coins. It was a waste.” Gil shook his head and looked hopefully at the last hallway.

”Same here mine lead to some ceremonial armor but nothing else.” Walker was worried the third path would be the same and they would be trapped.

”Well, no point in sitting here Iʼm going to scout the last one. Wish me luck.” Everyone gave Gil a nod and a wave as he jumped to action.

This hallway was much like the others but it slowly became wider the higher Gil went. The roof of this hallway also mirrored the domed theme of the prior room. After an hour of walking the incline had become steeper but Gil could care less about that. He had just found something interesting.

Directly in front of him was a wall of bones. It would be unusual anywhere but here however the way it was placed made him think there was more to it. Upon investigating it wasnʼt a complete dead end, Gil could feel a slight drift coming from the cracks between bones. The bones were arranged perfectly with three skulls in the center. There seemed to be nothing concrete holding them together.

Gil gave the wall a solid kick and instead of breaking through was met with an unyielding force. This was not just a wall. With this information, he was ready to let the party know. Using the party chat function he told them everything was clear and that he had a puzzle for them.

Walker wasnʼt sure what kind of puzzle Gil was referring too so he doubled his efforts along with the others to get up to him. Upon seeing the bone wall blocking their path Gil stood there like a fool pointing. ”No idea how to break this, good luck” Gil laughed and sat down to watch Walker work.

Walker went about the same methods as Gil, noticing a draft from between bones, that nothing seemed to hold it all together and let a solid kick at it.

”Pfft thatʼs not a real hit let me do it.” Remey wound up and with a shout unleashed a powerful punch. Her knuckles grinding on the bones. However, not a single dent was made. Her face contorted in pain almost as if sheʼd struck the toughest dragon scales. ”What in the holy heavens are these things made of? It didnʼt even scratch!” She was astounded that her punch was perfectly resisted.

However, as Remey had punched at the wall a strange thought was occurring to Walker.