Chapter 1022: Old Friends

I mean… you want me to leave messages for EVERY caste now? Give me a break. What do I even have to say?! Really, this is my fault. The moment I did the first, every member of the council was going to come after me, asking me to leave a nugget of wisdom for their followers.

Listen well, hatchling, Don"t let your siblings ha.s.sle you into things you don"t want to do.

I mean, it"s hard for me to say no to Bella and Ellie. The Core Shapers are near and dear to my heart, because the pets that I raised became such dear friends and reliable allies. I can"t imagine what would have happened had I been forced to face the Dungeon by myself.

Treasure your pets. In fact, don"t even think of them as pets. They aren"t disposable, they aren"t less than you are. They"re your sword and shield, just as you are theirs. Don"t even think of them as friends and allies, but as members of the family.

- The Eldest"s message to the Core Shapers.

It"s not easy to read a giant floating, fiery eyeball, but I can tell that Al is intrigued. Mainly because my eyeb.a.l.l.s feel like they"re boiling from the heat pouring off him.

[Answer a question for me, Al. Why the heck are you a burning eyeball if you"re a knowledge demon? I"m not trying to pry, but it doesn"t seem to line up. Shouldn"t you be some sort of flame demon or something?]

He radiates heat like a mini-sun, for goodness" sake. What does flame have to do with knowledge?!

[I was a type of envy demon in the past, but took on the aspect of fire along with my desire for knowledge in my evolution to tier seven.]

[So you changed significantly in your last evolution?]

[Indeed.]

I guess that makes sense. I turn my attention to Invidia floating nearby, his eye fixated on Al. I wonder what he"ll turn into during his next evolution? Right now, he"s envious, of pretty much everything and everyone. How will that obsession change? Personally, I wouldn"t mind if he became a little less broadly focused. A bridge to cross when we come to it.

[Now then. Time to get down to business. You used to live a lot deeper in the stratum, and you"ve been collecting information for goodness knows how long. I figured if anyone knows anything about these long sleeping demons, then it was going to be you. Care to share what you know?]

Al floats for a little while, contemplating his thoughts before he replies.

[I have… some understanding of the demon of which you speak, and his sisters.]

Sisters? Perhaps he means the other two?

[Nice! Considering the fact that I"m going to have to beat all three of them, any information you can give me will be welcome.]

[Are you… certain, that you will be able to defeat them?]

[I already sent Torrifex running once, why wouldn"t I be able to do it again? And against three times as many monsters?]

Maybe that will be difficult. But I"ll work it out.

[Hmmmmm. I will tell you, but there will be a price.]

Of course there is.

[Let"s hear it then. Hopefully, there won"t be any price gouging.]

[What is… price gouging?]

[Don"t get distracted, we"re already in the middle of a transaction. Unless you want that to be the payment?]

[... No. When you go to confront the Heralds, I want you to take me with you. That is my price.]

That"s… a little unexpected, but the help will certainly be worth it. Though, I"d better make sure that it is help.

[You don"t plan on allying with them, do you?]

The flaming eye flashes.

[They… would not welcome my help. That is not my intention.]

[Well, all right then. You can tag along. Now spill the beans.]

[What are beans?]

[Concentrate, dammit!]

[Ah, yes. I am sorry. Allow me to explain what I know of the Heralds.]

Al composes his thoughts, fire flickering around his eye.

[Arconidem is known to cultivate powerful demons that act in his interests. These are his Heralds. When he sleeps, they rest, hidden in the deepest reaches of the stratum, in places thick with mana to sustain them. When he wakes, he sends them to carry out his wishes amongst the demons. Creating havoc, driving out any non-demons, these are his usual goals. When they grow too strong to remain at this level of the Dungeon, they are called down to his court, by his side.]

Interesting. So that implies that these aren"t the first round of servants the big jerk has had running around, but just the latest.

[Torrifex, Pyrixan and Somonax were last awake five hundred years ago, which corresponds to Arconidem"s last period of activity. It was at that time I became acquainted with them.]

[Wait a second. You"re over five hundred years old?!]

[I am.]

[How in the heck are you not tier eight, then?!]

[Evolving to tier eight would make remaining on my home stratum… difficult. So I have not.]

[Wait, but you could?]

[Yes.]

Holy. Moly. This guy has been sitting at level one gigabillion or whatever it takes for hundreds of years?! Yikes!

[So are your Skills at rank fifty or something?]

With hundreds of years to train. It boggles the mind.

[No. Raising Skills to a rank higher than your tier of evolution can be… dangerous. Our bodies are not strong enough to withstand them.]

I suppose that makes sense. If I raised Void Chomp to the eighth rank, I can easily imagine it being so strong my own face would explode from the pressure. That"s something I"ve never thought about, and it"s something Granin never brought up, but then, why would they? I don"t have a Skill even remotely close to matching my evolution tier.

[I can also tell you what species the three Heralds are, though I cannot explain to you their abilities.]

[How in the name of heck can you tell me their species?!]

[Because I was almost one of them. Arconidem wished me to become his fourth Herald.]