With Toriel's encouragement, Gregor slid off the bed. The fatigue he expected to feel in his legs did not come. He had no trouble lifting his body off the ground.
Now that he stopped to think about it, he felt better all over. The pain in his back was gone. Emboldened, he followed Toriel through the hall and out the door.
Gregor found that, with Toriel's help, he had already recovered completely. He could not just walk, he had less trouble walking than he had had in months. He went outside.
Outside! He had spent such a long time inside, surrounded by walls, that leaving was exhilarating. It didn't matter that the sky was blocked by the cavern roof. Just looking into the distance, knowing that nothing blocked the way, knowing that he could walk there if he wanted to, and actually going there - he hadn't known how much he missed it. He walked around a lot, just to enjoy the constant changes of scenery.
Satisfied with Gregor's health, Toriel found him a small house in Home. She said she didn't have time to help him adjust to the underground, but she recommended him a guide. Gregor got help from the boulder he had first seen in her guest room. Second, she had called him - he liked to go by Second Rock.
"It's more than just a job description," he explained after they were introduced. "I've been doing this for six hundred years. Almost all my life. I don't do Second Rock. I am Second Rock."
"Six hundred years?" Gregor asked.
"Six hundred and twelve, this March. My grandfather was Second Rock before me. He's just a pebble now."
"A pebble?"
"Erosion. Do you want to see where I work?"
He led Gregor to a room with a bridge and three rectangular switches embedded in the ground. After they crossed the bridge, spikes shot up through it. They were large, with rounded tips. They didn't look very dangerous.
"This is in the preliminary puzzle track." Second Rock explained. "Young monsters get used to puzzles here. They're tamer than the ones in Home." He slid on top of one of the switches. The spikes retreated. "If they move Fourth they can go through."
"Aren't you too heavy for kids to push?" Gregor asked.
"If they're small I help them. As long as they try."
"But why do you have all these puzzles?"
Even without a face, Second Rock managed to radiate bewilderment. "They're puzzles." he said.
"Yes, but…" Gregor struggled to find the words. "When did monsters start making puzzles?"
"After the war. We were getting settled. We were afraid humans would follow us. So we made traps. But we wanted them to be fair. Nobody likes puzzles you can't figure out."
"Do any humans come down here?"
"Oh. No. It's not about that any more."
Gregor was treated to a long history of puzzles in the underground. It was interesting, even if Second Rock tended to assume a lot of knowledge of Gregor. He had to interrupt to ask what a sokoboid was.
His enthusiasm was infectious. Gregor still didn't understand why, but a fire had been lit in his mind.