Stuck As A Dungeon Mob

Following the day to be remembered, the elves were visibly happier. That was because Ed was not nearly as heartless as he seemed and allowed the elves to take some of the sap they tapped for themselves.

This sap quickly became a commodity. One that could be traded and that would no doubt one day make its way to the humans as a raw resource.

'First, I'll release it as a product in the form of the Elven Ink' This would ignite the passion of any and all formationists in the human world.

'While we work towards that, however, I think it's important that I give Kimani her first task.' A day had passed since he last sent her a message.

'Kimani, please look into the current state of formations in the human world' He would have Kimani do market research in anticipation of his new product. While Ed was certain that his formationist knowledge and skills was in fact superior that of the humans, it was impossible to know for certain without doing any research.

After sending this message to Kimani, Ed waited for a reply. He didn't know how much of a delay there was when sending these messages through the link skill. But Ed did at least know that Kimani would receive them.

'When using transmission with the spirit marks, the connection to the spirit marks is lost once the bearer of the mark exits the dungeon' This was proven by W's previous venture to the outside.

This did not occur with the link skill. Ed could feel that the link was fainter than it perhaps would be if they existed in the same space but so long as there was a link the message should be received.

Hearing no response, Ed realized that Kimani might not want to convey her thoughts to him for one reason or another.

'She should know that we are linked, she should share this feeling of connection' So she should be aware that they could communicate.

Ed could thus only imagine that she was terrified of talking to him. It was like talking to your superior at work, yes you could do it but why would you? Well, perhaps that was only true if the superior was a mean person. Plus, it should still be within etiquette to at least offer some words of affirmation, no?

'I hope you don't intend to do anything foolish, I expect a rapid response from you and similarly rapid results' Ed decided to do another follow up message.

'I don't know exactly what type of persona to employ when speaking to her' Previously he thought that since she saw him as a monster it made sense to use that to force her to obey but…

'Maybe I should have just made the effort to change that perception…' Acting unlike himself was exhausting.

'Well, I'm sure I'll get a chance to forge better relations with her in the future' For now as long as fear worked he would use it.

'Understood!!!!!!!!' After a bit of delay, Kimani's response came back. Her intent to yell out that response was clearly transmitted to Ed causing him to flinch slightly.

'That may as well have been a mental attack…' Ed grumbled inwardly. Unfortunately, Ed didn't think this mental attack would help level up his Fortified Mind skill.

[Assimilation is off cooldown]

On the topic of skills, assimilation couldn't help but show itself. Ed of course had no problem with its appearance. In fact, he was quite happy to see it for he had been meaning to test out what would happen upon assimilating the divine tree sap.

[Assimilated (Divine Tree Sap) +5 vitality]

[Assimilation has leveled up]

[Assimilation has met the conditions to advance, Assimilation Skill? Y/N]

Ed was left awestruck by the series of messages.

'Nice' Ed had gained a lot of vitality from something as simple as tree sap. Of course the word divine meant Ed had some expectations but a +5 increase was impressive even while he expected such a number.

Not just that but Ed's assimilation skill had leveled up. Every time it went off cooldown, Ed made sure to assimilate something so the racking up experience was no surprise. The problem was that he now had a difficult decision to make.

[Advancement declined]

'I could have split myself and tried the thing I did with transmission but…' Ed couldn't help but wonder how far he could take the level ups.

'Assimilation is a skill I use often' Almost always as soon as it is off cooldown in fact. So he could expect it to level up at some point so long as that remained true.

'If the level is higher, will the advancement be more significant?' Ed would definitely split his consciousness and try to isolate the skill but he decided to wait a couple of level ups more before that occurs.

With the slight distraction out of the way, Ed decided to take a look at this status.

[Name: Edwa&!]

Type: Elf (Arid)

Health: 780/780

Mana: 211/211

Vitality: 9

Strength: 6

Agility: 7

Constitution: 6

Dexterity: 7

~Skills~

[Survivalist lvl. 0]

[Formationist lvl. 6]

[Alchemy lvl. 2]

'Hmmm… My skills are rather underdeveloped in this body' Ed couldn't help but notice that in comparison to his orc and skeleton body it could be argued that he knew nothing.

Whether or not that was an issue was hard to determine however. The desert floor was quite distant from the dungeon's entrance meaning that threats were unlikely to be found.

With that in mind, there was no need for a vast array of combat skills. Utility skills such as alchemy and formationist were instead far more beneficial.

'There is the threat of the bloodhaven' But Ed did not believe that it was a threat so long as he didn't enter its territory.

'Supposedly the area was expanding' So perhaps it could one day become a problem but Ed did not think that such a day would come soon.

'Still, maybe I should receive some training from Alolvi' Alolvi was after all the most seasoned warrior, it wouldn't hurt to learn some stave arts from him.

With these thoughts out of the way, Ed then returned his focus to the more pressing matters.

'It's time to switch bodies' After arranging an expedition settling the urgent problems in the desert floor, sending scouts to the Bloodhaven, and teaching the elves about the divine tree sap, there was nothing more Ed could do here that wouldn't involve simple self improvement.

'System, could you please reason with the dungeon again?' Ed didn't know how the system managed to convince the dungeon last time or if it had been nothing more than a coincidence that he was able to switch bodies as he wished but…

'I hope it works' If the dungeon was becoming more agreeable, Ed could rest easy from now on.

'I hope it sends me to my orc body' Ed didn't think that the orcs were anxiously awaiting his return. Sharog was doing an excellent job and there were no major commotions to speak of.

But Ed needed to return to his orc body if he wanted to create a commerce route with the humans. He needed to set up a system that would have the orcs pass goods through the portal into the crypt and hopefully be collected by trusted associates of Kimani then.

'I just hope she picks her connections right' Thinking of this, Ed started to become a bit worried. Didn't W pick quite a bad candidate for this role? Why did he agree to this!?

'No, there is no need to worry about that' A was accompanying Kimani. Not just that but the blood clots she housed would be passed onto the key employees of her theoretical company and secrecy would be guaranteed then.

'In the worst case scenario, I can unleash havoc in the human world via the blood clots as a means to erase any evidence' How effective such a strategy could be was uncertain but Ed was certain that he had options. Even if this one could be argued to be rather extreme.

[Recalling Champion's Soul]

'Hey no… wait.. I'm not done' Ed was unable to finish organizing his thoughts before they began to blur and his being was whisked away into the infinite darkness of the dungeon's space.

Following his visit to the dungeon space was the expected 10 minute wait. As Ed waited patiently, he began to plan out who he would talk to and what he would do once entered his orc body.

'Considering that it listened, I'm sure It'll send me where I need to go' Holding onto that hope, Ed realized the time had come to an end. His thoughts blurred anew and he held his non-existent breath.

When he opened his eyes, Ed realized that it was dark out. He also realized that he had eyes.

"Great!" He shouted before shooting out of bed.

'Hm? Wait, I don't recognize this place…?' Ed was certain he was in his orc body but whose house was he in exactly?