"My king, please reconsider!" A man dressed in knightly armor yelled in a raucous tone.
He had his head down as a form of respect but his words were taken as an insult by the king, Brennan Bosque. He still had some dignity, he couldn't let others trample over him so simply. Especially not for this occasion.
Currently, many important figures were gathered in his throne room. That included his prime minister, his eldest son, Duke Lansworth, and the knight himself, Balin. There were also other nobles watching from the sidelines.
"Impudent!" The king angrily returned from his throne.
Balin was the representative of the kingdom's knight commanders. Still, that gave him no authority to challenge his decisions.
"It's been decided. I already informed the Freedom Union located in Arbor town. You should wisely pick who will accompany you." Brennan wasn't really angry. He was only feigning it. If he were in anybody else's shoes he would also question his decision.
His prime minister then spoke up.
"Ahem, forgive my rashness your majesty but… The Volcan Empire has been making suspicious movements as of late! We can't allow those tyrants to get any crazy ideas!" The prime minister brazenly spoke.
The Bosque kingdom was eyed by many due to its fertile land. The only reason why they had survived for as long as they had was due to their craftiness. Bosque's lineage was filled with clever and astute rulers.
If the Volcan Empire threatened them all they had to do was cozy up with the Galeburst Dynasty. If the neighboring kingdoms' had any ideas it was even easier. The wealthy Bosque didn't have any issues choking them out financially. Fertile lands made money.
"They wouldn't dare. The harsh northern winters should keep them preoccupied for the time being" The king retorted while not being so sure himself.
The recent movements were indeed suspicious. Not to mention that with the empire's mastery over fire elements, a winter assault couldn't be ruled out. The winter itself would also make the bosque kingdom seem far more accommodating and enticing.
"Your majesty-!" The prime minister tried to once more advise otherwise but…
"That's my final decree. The dungeon is a looming threat that I will not have in my kingdom! In the event of a breakout, we would become susceptible to attacks from the Volcan Empire." Brennan's words were logical but that was only on the premise that the threat wasn't being exaggerated.
"You leave in a month, is that understood?!" Brennan then yelled while addressing Balin, asserting his authority.
Upon hearing this, the people present could only hide their discontent and suffer in silence. Balin sighed internally before responding.
"Yes your majesty" He solemnly said before straightening his body to leave.
The king hadn't dismissed anybody but they all started to leave, not just his knight commander.
Aside from some regular guards in charge of the king's protection, only Duke Lansworth was left in the throne room.
"King, this decision will plant dissatisfaction in the hearts of your subjects." Duke Lansworth could be said to be a confidant of the king. He was currently asking in the interest of the king.
"I know that…" Brenan said with a heavy sigh.
His current action could be said to be quite tyrannical. The kingdom did have some checks and balances but nothing stopped the king from commanding his knights.
Every noble had their own troops and armies which they could deploy for war, none could compare to the royal family for obvious reasons. Moving those troops also required certain permissions from the king or other nobles. Royalty didn't have these restrictions though.
Duke Lansworth didn't pry any further after hearing his reply. Perhaps the king didn't want to rule the kingdom anymore?
What a joke. The Duke suspected outside interference. But prying would likely yield no answers. He would need to investigate both the dungeon and the king. Who knows, maybe the threat was indeed major.
***
Ed tidied up the large room as he watched the 9 skeletons fight amongst themselves. The dungeon's gaze made it so he couldn't enter the space anew. Thus, he had no option but to start his career as an overlord by accommodating his wares.
He also instructed the skeletons to learn fighting by sparring with one another. The dumber ones simply mimicked the others but that alone was enough for the time being.
[Hoarding has leveled up]
Ed had arranged all of the things he brought into separate piles resulting in the subsequent level up. All things considered, it was rather nostalgic.
'Humble beginnings' He joked as he prepared to check his status.
[Name: Edw#&!]
Type: Skeleton
Health: 700/700
Mana: 176
Strength: 5
Agility: 1
Constitution: 6
Dexterity: 2
~Skills:~
[Adept Throwing lvl. 4] -Show info-
[Swordsmanship lvl. -1] -Show info-
[Hoarding lvl. 7] -Show info-
[Mental Fortitude lvl. 5] -Show info-
[Transmission Lvl. 4] -Show info-
[Minor Explosion Resistance lvl. 0] -Show info-
[Assessment lvl. 1] -Show info-
[Assimilation lvl. 5] -Show info-
[Thought Manifestation lvl. 1] -Show info-
[Language lvl. 1] -Show info-
[Mana Manipulation lvl. 4] -Show info-
[System Link lvl. 2]-Show info-
[Eloquence lvl. 3] -Show info-
[Sixth Sense lvl. 0] -Show info-
Ed's status gave him a positive response. It was time to test out strengthening the skeleton's through the forge.
He thought it would take much longer until he was provided the opportunity to fiddle with it but since it wasn't the case, he might as well start.
He left the next generation of skeletons to do their own thing and approached a pan wielding skeleton.
'Sorry buddy' Ed said inwardly as he took its consciousness. He then proceeded to enter its body parts into the storage. Where else was he supposed to get the bones? His own limbs?
'I wonder if I can pull that off somehow' If the method was effective then there was no reason not to.
Ed dusted his boney hands for no reason whatsoever after storing the bones. He now only needed to get the next experimental material. The metal.
He opened one of the sealed corridors and exited the large room. Of course, he didn't forget to close it on his way out. Those skeletons would not escape their fate.
As Ed knew where he was, it didn't take him long to arrive before a bunch of crates. He opened one up revealing lustrous gray chunks of metal.
[Antimony Chunk]
A lustrous gray metalloid that can be found in nature.
'So that's what it is' Ed thought as he tried to recall this metal from his memories. He drew a blank however and had no choice but to abandon the attempt.
He sighed inwardly before starting to store the metal chunks. He would use this metal to fuse the bones as there were no other options.
'I could try melting the swords and armor but I should keep those' Assimilating weapons would net him more than constitution. It was obviously a bad idea to mess around with those.
Ed spent a good 5 minutes individually storing the chunks from many of the crates. It was annoying and mundane. Arguably the worst combination. Nevertheless, he was done.
He didn't stick around and quickly made his way back to the large room where the experimental material, Ahem skeletons… awaited him.
When he entered, he saw Kenny Jr. frantically running around chasing after number nine. It looked comical however as Kenny Jr. was missing his arms. Number nine had taken them.
'Looks like it learned to be mischievous… Where did it learn such attitude?' Ed quickly commanded it to stop and help Kenny reattach its arms to which Nine abided. Maybe it was in the undead's natural instincts?
Ed didn't bother with that any longer and quickly went to his designated leaning wall. He entered the system space and waited through the unskippable cutscene.
The temple stood grandiosely before him and Ed quickly walked in. His direction was naturally the storeroom.
Upon reaching there he could only lament not having a more powerful form of storage. He was forced to enter and sieve through the wisps and other clutter in search of the bones. The metal was easy to find as he had admitted multiple chunks but he only took one skeleton into the storage.
After some laborious sifting, he finally acquired a full skeleton. He multiplied his arms and grabbed each material ready to go.
'Now, how do I take these things out?' Ed asked himself remembering the instance with the book. If he couldn't get the materials to the forge room then his plan would be falling on its face before even starting the race.
With some trepidation, he grabbed the skeleton and ores and floated towards the room's exit. To his surprise, it worked!
'Great' Ed was elated by this because it could only mean one thing!
'Only materials are allowed out of the storeroom.' The last time he had tried to take out a book. Who would toss a book into a furnace? Erm, who would toss a book into a furnace with the intention to forge it?
'This means I am already walking the path of success' Ed thought as he walked towards the forge room expectantly.