An old... friend(?) and not really.

As the footfalls grew closer, you became able to make out voices. They were muffled at first, but eventually became clear as they neared. I listened intently, seeing if I could figure out anything important like their classes or races from how they spoke.

The first voice, a somewhat familiar feminine voice, seemed to be the leader of the group. "-And then, that coffin started talking! Me and the gang got out of there quick after that, it is no~t worth it to deal with high tier undead, and it was probably cursed too!" You weren't sure why you somewhat recognized that voice, but the feeling it gave was somewhat positive, so you could get your hopes up a little bit.

A second voice responded, this one seeming much less confident than the other. "Y-yeah, that makes sense. S-so, what was it you were brining me to again? I kept hearing this area of the desert was dangerous..." This voice was not at all familiar, in fact, you would guess they may be a new adventurer. You had always wondered where they came from, as you had never heard of an adventurer to be, only new ones. It wasn't like you could ask either, so this would most likely remain a mystery.

You watched the door nervously, you knew that you most likely couldn't face two adventurers that were able to make it all the way here. In addition, if you recognized one of them, that meant they had been strong enough before, and had gotten stronger since. As you braced yourself for what was to come, two figures appeared in the entryway of the cave.

The first one stood triumphantly as they looked around the cave, seemingly taking it in. "Ah, so many memories in here..." Her eyes drifted to you, her face lighting up when she saw you. "Ah! Yes! I was hoping you would still be here!" She slid down the small sand bank right at the entrance and ran up to you. You braced for a strike as she instead caught you in a hug. "How great it is to see you again! It's been so long, Mr. Skelly."

With those words the memories came flooding back. There had once been a novice adventurer that ended up in your cave after their party was wiped in a sandstorm. While you could have killed them, you at the time prioritized stopping the sand from getting in the cave and covering the mural again. She mistook this for you protecting her from the harsh weather, and thought she had discovered some "Rare advanced hidden NPC". You didn't have the heart (or the voice) to tell her you were, in fact, a monster, so you just played along.

For the next while, you two had spent some time together. After the storm was done, she left, and you thought that would be the end of it. But to your surprise, she showed up again a few days later. She said that she had "Searched the Wiki" for things about you but all she could find were people questioning the point of some strange skeleton monster in a cave. She "confronted" you about being a monster, to which you nodded.

From then on, your relationship was quite complicated. Some days she confided in you, some days she yelled at you, but every day you sparred. It had turned out to be great for both of you, as it let you get used to fighting one on one with adventurers, and she got to fight a monster that could learn and counter strategies, which was apparently rare. You didn't mind the times you lost, as it was at least a more productive **** than your normal ones.

This time too came to an end however, as she eventually reached a level you simply couldn't match. Since you lost your levels upon dying, you had no way of catching up to her. In the end, she was **** to move on, and you didn't blame her. At least the last time she had came by, she made sure to tell you about the nearby landmarks (though you still hadn't seen most of them).

Snapping out of that flashback, you cautiously patted her head. Knowing that she had been a higher level than you could win against a long time ago, you were quite afraid of how easily she could destroy you now. Your awkward embrace carried on for an extended period of time, and you began to question how long she was planning on staying like this.

It was the other person with her that came to your rescue, "Can you tell me what is going on here Ella? Why are you hugging a skeleton? And... why isn't it attacking you?" Ella! Right, that's what her name was. You were somewhat mad at yourself for forgetting, but on the other hand it had been a year ago at least.

Ella lets go of you and turned around, before stepping to the side and doing some jazz hands as if she was showing you off. "This, is Mr. Skelly! I found him back when I was starting out, and he really helped me learn the basics of the game. He also has some kind of hidden lore here, but no one has managed to figure it out." She scratched her head as she looked at me considering me.

The other girl clutched her staff close, pointing it somewhat at you. "A-are you sure it's not dangerous? Usually the unique mobs are deadly, with some unique abilities and such."

Ella gave a laugh, "Nah, Mr. Skelly here is practically harmless." You turned your head at her, feeling betrayed. "Oops, sorry. He is a somewhat strong mob, but the only special feature he has is that he seems to be able to learn your moves."

The other girl lowered her staff for a moment, "Wait, h-he just responded to what you said..."

Ella looked at her confused, "Yeah? Why is this strange?" You had to agree, you may not have ears, but skeletons could still hear. Not to mention Lizardfolk didn't have ears either to your knowledge.

She looked at Ella dumbfounded, "Because only elite or higher monsters do that! No other monster aside from key ones for quests and such are capable of actually communication with-" She seemed to stop herself from saying something, though you didn't quite understand why.

Ella thought about this for a second, "Huh... Well, I guess that's just another one of the things that makes Mr. Skelly here so great!" She had a bubbly attitude, and seemed to take this fact much lighter than her counterpart.

At this point, you become curious as to Ella's power growth and some facts on the newcomer, so you decide to try and open their inspection menus. It took some trial and error and some hand gestures that confused them both, but you get it to work.

Ella's was first

Ella Edriana, Level 47 Fighter (Blademaster)
Hero, Human, Active, Explicit
Time since created: 22,338 hours
Time played: 5,840

After nearly recoiling in horror at Ella's level and hour count, you prayed that her comrade was less intimidating.

Bea Loftyname, Level 3 Mage (Locked)
Hero, Elf, Active, Explicit
Time since created: 30 hours
Time played: 5 hours

You let out a nonexistent sigh of relief. She was low level, and a mage. That was the least intimidating counter to you, as you weren't weak to most magic and could close the gap if need be. That aside, they also wouldn't out speed you in attacks and probably had no stunning attacks, which were always annoying to deal with.

Bea looked at me again, her previous fear being more replaced with curiosity. "He really is interesting, is that why you brought me here? To show me how cool some of this... world's minor easter eggs can be?" She eyed you as she paused again, why did she keep doing that?

Ella kept a wide smile on her face as she replied, "Nope!"

Both you and Bea looked at her with the same question in mind, yet only one of you could voice it.