"Without knowing the particular of this religion," Fernando comments. "I would guess that they might not want the common followers to have easy access to all levels. But yes."

"Nerd. That sounds correct, but nerd."

"Do you know anything in specific about the tomes?"

"Huh. You might be right," he tells Fernando. "The tomes typically contain secrets of the Horadrim, but beyond that I couldn't tell you if they're a runecrafting guide or the blueprints to the waypoint system. We just know that this was once a Horadric monastery, and the second-level antechamber was where the lore was kept."

Nod nod. They will continue walk (or float in Fernando's case) as they make their way inside the monastery.

As they pass through the archway, an old man's voice reaches their ears.

"Back, fiends! Back!"

Then an explosion and the distinctive, xylophone-like sound of a skeleton hitting a brick wall and shattering into pieces.

Ari begins running full-tilt down the stairs.

Everyone follows into a run. Felix actually reaches the destination before Ari.

In that case, he will encounter the old man in question, who is hobbling rapidly away from a small army of skeletons while clutching several large books and a gnarled walking stick.

The floor of this particular room features a massive chasm emanating a mysterious blue glow, at the side of which is a narrow ledge of crumbling stonework. The old man evaluates his options, then makes for the ledge as the first of the skeletons bursts in after him.

Barely a second after he makes it across, the ledge collapses, taking a handful of skeletons with it. The remainder of the army is trapped on the other side. The old man breathes a visible sigh of relief.

Then through the ranks of the skeleton army comes a very, very large skeleton, wearing a broken crown and holding a large scepter-cum-morningstar.

"Leoric?" rasps the old man.

"The light of the falling star awakened me!" thunders the skeleton king. "Now all shall suffer as I have suffered!"

The skeleton king whirls around, throwing up a cloud of bone dust. Then he appears on the other side of the chasm, accompanied by a handful of skeletal warriors, and roars a challenge.

...Is there a way for Felix to carry the old man away from the danger?

If he can lift and run with about a hundred and twenty pounds of wiry old man flesh, then yes.

Meanwhile, Ari has entered the field and is launching himself at the skeleton king, wreathed in flame like a comet. The skeleton king is bowled over, but quickly gets to his feet and swings his scepter into Ari's chest like a comically oversized baseball bat, knocking the wind out of him. 

Easily done. He rights the man in the ground. "We are Ari's friends from another world."

Fernando is the first to follow Ari. He takes advantage of his flight to snipe at skeletons. The others are close behind.

Tentatively, Henry tries some anti-magic at the skeleton king and his troops.

Anti-magic doesn't seem to be effective. Sniping is, though.

"Thank you," the old man says to Felix once he's been set down. "It is good to hear that Ari is well; I feared the worst. ...is that him fighting the King?"

Well, in that case Henry will just shoot the undead with his bow (the one Felix discarded). Thomas and Gabe will focus on skull-smashing.

"Yup. Are you going to be alright if I join the fight?"

"Yes, yes, I'll be fine."

He removes a scroll from his belt, unfurls it, and slams it onto the ground. A humanoid figure grows out of the stone and begins crushing skulls.

Felix joins the skull-smashing party. Though, he focus more on using his super-speed to run interference, knocking down assailants and generally be a pain in the tail bone.

With so many participants, the fight is fairly chaotic. The skeleton king keeps summoning new troops from across the gap, and eventually the floor is so strewn with loose bones and weaponry that it's almost more of a hazard than the skeletons themselves. 

And then - with a blinding flash of purple light - the king explodes. Splinters of bone fly like shrapnel.

The remaining skeletons don't last long, and the army across the gap is now milling around aimlessly and, in some cases, falling off the edge.

Ari stands, red in the face and breathing heavily, with one foot on a crowned skull. Then he steps off and embraces his uncle.

People catch their breaths and dust themselves off from skeletal debris.

Ari lets go after a few seconds. "Uncle. I'm glad you're safe. These are-"

"-your friends, from another world. That extremely fast young man told me. Though he never gave his name."

"The fast one is Felix! The flying one is Fernando, the one with the hammer is Thomas, the blonde one is Gabe, and the one who is neither identical nor blonde is Henry!"

"I see. Boys, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to remember any of that, so let's all come to terms with that now."

"Uncle," Ari chastises. "He's joking. He remembers everything. It's terrifying."

People wave and nod as they are acknowledged. Gabe approaches and puts an arm around Ari. "Good to see he has a sense of humor."

Henry likewise approaches and leans on Ari. "Have you managed to find what you were looking for, Mr. Cain?"

"Yes, yes. These tomes appear to detail the process of creating a Horadric shrine."

"Not the most useful thing they could contain," Ari notes. "Shrines are... kind of useless, actually. A shrine is a stationary structure that temporarily gives you a 'boost' to some attribute, like strength or stamina or fire resistance," he explains to the rest of the group. "They're usable by one person per hour, and the effect lasts about five minutes."

"A well-placed shrine can be an extremely valuable resource," Cain chides. "And with sufficient research, we might be able to surpass the traits you find so limiting."

"Stamina is a component of our magic," Henry points out.