'Is it because I'm considered an Obsidian Dragon, now?' Edward pondered. He looked to Ikarus and found the Dragon staring at him with more admiration than Edward thought possible, 'Where Ikarus focuses on speed, I focus on power? If that's the case, different dragons will have different flames. That's amazing.'
"What was that, man?" Brandon asked. He appeared flustered— probably because his cloak didn't have fire resistance. Neither did Marksus's of course, but his Endurance was high enough to resist the ambient temperature of Edward's flames in the first place.
"Sorry. I think I put too much MP into it," Edward lied. He didn't want to tell the group about his race change— not while Markus was nearby. He wasn't sure how his friend would react to the news. Leila would take it well, probably, but not Markus. After all, how should you react if your friend of several years suddenly wasn't human, anymore? So, Edward looked to Leila and grinned, "Why don't you make the torch, this time?"
"Sure," Leila nodded. She held up her hand and summoned a flame— the correct flame— to warm up the group. Brandon stepped within range of the warmth— though not without shooting Edward a frustrated look. Afterward, Markus stepped forward and walked through the open doorway.
The second floor was a lot like the first. The walls of black stone were still covered in a thin layer of frost and the chandeliers above were still illuminating the hallway with blue light. Had they not already beaten the first boss, Edward would've assumed they accidentally walked back into the first floor.
Brandon still walked in the back of the group as he directed them with the map, obviously, but now he was doing so alongside Edward. With Ikarus and Leila hovering above them, there was more room for the ground players to move around.
"I'm assuming we'll hit up all of the rooms, first?" Brandon assumed. Edward nodded, "Alright. Go right at this next intersection, then? There's a room not far from there."
Markus nodded from the front. Although the blond man kept Brandon's direction in mind, the intersection itself wasn't in sight. Only after three minutes of walking did Edward finally manage to catch sight of the intersection before him. However, just next to the intersection were two enemies.
Edward couldn't see exactly what type of enemies they were, though, because he was standing too far away to make out any details. He only saw movement coming from two white figures ahead of them.
"Enemies ahead!" Edward pointed. Markus looked into the darkness for a moment, but then turned back and shrugged.
"I can't see them," Markus muttered. Leila and Brandon also turned in his direction, confused. It appeared neither of them could see the enemies standing before them, either.
'They can't see them? They're so obvious, though,' Edward thought to himself. He looked back at the enemies and became even more confused.
"Just be ready," Edward said. Markus and the others nodded and turned back to the hallway. After another minute of walking, Markus finally spoke up.
"I see them! How the hell did you manage that, Edward? It's way too dark to see!" Markus smiled.
'It's too dark?' Edward's mind echoed. A deep feeling of unease surfaced in his mind, causing him to stop in his tracks. He turned to look at the flames above Leila's hand, then turned to look at the candles above. After a moment, he realized what was wrong. The chandeliers appeared more empty than he remembered. On the first floor, every chandelier was almost overflowing with candles. Now, though, there are less of them, 'He's right. It's darker here than it was on the first floor— I just didn't realize.'
"Edward?" Leila asked with concern.
'Is it my eyes?' Edward rubbed his eyes before opening them once more, yet nothing changed. It took him a moment to realize what had happened. His evolution from Dragonkin to Dragon hadn't just added scales to his skin but had also changed his eyes— causing them to become sharper and more sensitive to light.
Edward immediately asked for Brandon's sword. His brother gave it to him without hesitation, though his expression was full of confusion. Edward immediately brought the sword up to his eyes and removed his mask before turning to gaze at his reflection. Thankfully, Brandon hardly ever used his rapier— so it was still in good condition.
As Edward gazed into his reflection, he brought his attention to his eyes. What he found staring back at him were eyes that he had never seen before. While the color and the whites of his eyes hadn't changed, his pupils had elongated into the slits of a snake's eyes. His new slit-like pupils were rough around the edges, similar to Ikarus's eyes, but were much longer. The top and the bottom both touched the edges of his black irises, causing an illusion of a scar directly in the center of his eye.
Luckily, his eyes were too dark for anybody to notice unless they looked at him from up close. His irises somewhat camouflaged his dragon pupils, so he wouldn't have to worry about anybody freaking out if they saw him on Earth.
Edward put his mask back on and sighed in relief. Then, he handed the rapier back to Brandon and turned to Markus.
"Anything wrong?" Markus asked. Edward quickly shook his head.
"No, I'm alright. L-let's keep on going," Edward stammered. He stepped forward as his heart threatened to alert everything within a mile radius with its incessant pounding, but nobody seemed to notice.
After a moment, the group's presence finally alerted the skeletons. Once the skeletons saw them, they approached. Thanks to his new eyes, Edward saw what they were before anybody else. There were two skeletons in total, but both were smaller than Edward had expected. Like the enemies on the first floor, these skeletons took on the appearance of animals. Only— they had been extinct for a while.
"Are those dinosaurs?" Brandon shrieked.