After what felt like months, Ed was back inside the boss room. He however needed to recollect himself for a couple of minutes before returning to his usual routine.
'I hope there is a skill that can help against that' Ed thought as he dizzily stood up from his position. The side effects of the teleportation were fading.
After recovering his blurry sight, Ed glanced towards the still open gate. He could vaguely see lights likely originating from the clashing of swords or the casting of spells. The skeletons were definitely still diligently training Ed inferred.
He then gazed at the floor and found multiple red crystals spread around without order. They were the ones he had chucked previously.
Ed controlled the ground. The red crystals all shifted into a pile which continued to control towards the exit.
'Earth is always very handy' Cleaning without getting your hands dirty, convenient!
Ed followed after the crystals and all of the undead noticed his presence. Some stopped their duel as a way to show him respect while others only acknowledged that he was there.
Ed didn't care about this and moved the pile of fire crystals towards Blaze.
'Use this to replenish' Ed transmitted to Blaze who was eyeing the pile of fiery crystals with a fervent gaze. Blaze immediately got on its feet and performed a small bow of gratitude.
'All of you can also get near the fire crystals' Ed broadcasted towards the fire mages. They were all a fair distance away from one another as to not interfere with their recollection of fire elements. This was something previously arranged by Ed.
Receiving Ed's permission, they didn't hesitate to scoot on over to the pile of fire crystals. They didn't need to have Blaze's intelligence to understand what the crystals were. Their other comrades were using them to improve themselves after all.
With that settled, Ed tried to enter the system space. There was really no reason for him to check his status every time. It was simply convenient to take in his attributes and skills at every available opportunity as a way to keep track of his progress.
Before long, he found himself within the white abyss. The boundless space was silent and flat. Nothing out of the usual.
Ed summoned the unskippable cutscene and was then faced with the magnificent white temple.
His current goal was to get the rest of the fire crystals as well as to retrieve Samuel's sword. As he was quite busy, he managed to overlook the sleek blade in the organized pile of weapons previously.
Crossing over to the orc plains reminded him that he needed to make preparations in advance if he didn't want to suffer any regrets. He could not retrieve it once the adventurer threat was recognized by the dungeon as he would be then put under watch.
Thanks to his hurried steps, he was soon faced with the door to the storeroom. He managed to spot a pile of red crystals as a first peek.
'Good to see it works even without the temple being active' Similarly, the storeroom was still available for deposits even under the dungeon's gaze. In that regard, it wasn't at all surprising to see it function properly.
Ed entered and swept his gaze past the multiple piles. He scooched his way past many of them before finally standing before a pile of weapons. It ranged from bows to swords and axes, it made no distinction between the close and long-range.
[Soaring Staff]
[Bloodburst]
[Chain of Agony]
Ed assessed the names of many of the weapons. They had interesting names but they either didn't fit him or were not of sufficient strength. The chain of agony was a perfect example of both of those points. When had he ever used a chain? Who was even holding such a thing?
Ed continued digging casually assessing the weapons.
[Spear of Fodder]
[Assessment has leveled up]
Whoever held such a spear in battle was upstanding. They held no arrogance or conceit.
After some more digging, Ed finally caught sight of a green luster. He hurriedly dug out the weapon with expectant eyes.
It was a regular green sword, he tossed it aside. Beneath it, however, stood a sword with a sleek green design. It seemed minimalistic yet grand. A dichotomy.
[Dragon Blade Vient]
Forged by the master craftsman, Sayer, with the scales of the storm dragon Vient. Greatly boosts wind-based attacks. Channels mana with ease.
Ed read the description and was left utterly surprised. Dragon! A dragon blade!
The craftsman's naming sense was simple but his skills certainly weren't! Ed could only imagine what it might take to create equipment from a dragon's scales.
'I wonder if the system would help me' Ed thought back to his craftsperson skill as he brandished the elegant blade. It felt weightless and sharp.
[Expelling user]
'Damn!' Ed yelled inwardly as his vision faded away from the storeroom and the fire crystals remained motionless in their pile.
Ed's disappointment reached an all-time high as he found himself back in the gate corridor. His only comfort was the green blade that laid on the ground with evident grace.
'This sword looks good anywhere' There was no way to hide its brilliance.
'I wonder if that would be any problem' Ed muttered inwardly as he picked up the lustrous green sword. He was pondering on whether or not the adventurers would be enticed.
Regardless of the answer, they would never get to even put their hands on it. Ed would make sure of it. The first thing he would do when facing a potential death was to send all of his equipment to the storeroom.
[A group of trespassers has entered your floor]
'As expected…' The abrupt exit could only mean that either someone had come or that the dungeon was checking on him. He was inclined towards the former this time given that it had already done so not too long ago.
'It has been less than 24 hours, that's a rather quick response' Ed was a bit shocked by this since it was a first as of late.
'But… given their hurriedness, their preparations might be incomplete. Of course, there's always the chance that it's an unaffiliated party' And he would take it as the latter. His preparations might end up being over the top but apart from time, he lost nothing.
Ed checked up on his blood ink, the quality had suffered a significant downgrade from when he used it last. Not only that, but the vacuum array had expended a large majority of it.
'I wonder if human blood can be used as a replacement' Vorgarag had never told him how to make the array ink. He wasn't sure if plain old blood would suffice.
'Maybe for powerful creatures it would' He had heard of such stories in his previous life.
Ed then ignored the idle thoughts and considered how to best make use of the available ink. He would be hard-pressed to create a second vacuum array but with his new insights, it wouldn't be impossible. The main downside would be that there would be no room for other arrays.
'New enemies are approaching. Prove to me the efforts of your training' Ed transmitted to all of the skeletons. He knew what he would do, it was now time to put things into action.
First of all, his army. It was time to create a clear distinction of ranks and create appropriate signs to communicate with.
Trench would be in charge of the mages with Blaze as an assistant. Ed was determining matters on the size of their consciousness as it implied better adaptive skills.
For the knights, Ed would take hold of them. He hadn't gotten around to teaching them how to read and write. Learning signs would still likely not pose a problem but Ed wasn't willing to bet on his trained soldiers. They were the most likely to perish in battle.
'Trench and Blaze…' Ed got started.
***
Gloomy.
The people of the knight party were all feeling rather down. To comply with the count's wishes as well as to prove their mettle, they had not taken a single break. They had essentially sprinted past the many floors. Without any mages, this was a plausible 'strategy'
"Five minutes. No more than that" Bayard spoke as they finally entered the dim safe room of the third floor.
That was also when Bayard noticed an abnormality. A dim safe room?
He decided not to think about it too hard though since his first and only task was to figure out the outcome of his young master.
With an angry expression, Bayard waited out the five-minute breathers. He was an A-class adventurer so he had not broken too large a sweat. The B-class knights however could hardly keep up without expending both mana and stamina.
Time flew past for the tired knights. Their armor was still soaked in sweat but time was up.
"We set off now" Bayard walked on over to the safe room's exit without missing a second of the five-minute timer.
Steadfast Bayard. He was as firm as the ground beneath one's feet. The rock that anchored down the safety of the Flamewood estate. He was also known as the code commander.. All tasks had to be accomplished to the word, by the book, by the knight code.