'And if I do make a core can I make it house high intelligence?' Wouldn't it be cool to make the core his representative?
'Well, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself' He needed to first verify it was possible. The only way to do so was to use the regular dungeon spawned skeletons or to return to the orc plains and experiment there.
'The latter is a better idea' The orc plains had vastly superior resources. For one he didn't need to make his own magic crystals. He also wouldn't need to worry about running out of boar blood ink.
He could also experiment using an orc's body rather than a skeleton once there. Of course, he would first have to make sure the orc was either unaffiliated to him in any way or an enemy.
Even though he was powerful, it wouldn't do to become a tyrant. That could lead to some sort of uprising against him.
'Why do I feel like they wouldn't really mind that much?' Ed could already hear orcs defending him claiming that it was only possible because he was strong.
'Orc society is weird' He could straighten out the orcs eventually. He first needed to sort things down here and that meant getting smarter liches.
'The piece of consciousness is enough for the time being but…' Ed wasn't reassured by that much alone. Knowing that getting a full consciousness was nothing but an armor away made him greatly hesitant to leave the others at just a piece.
'But It'll have to do' Although he gave himself the task of creating these civilizations he knew that the undead would not survive for long. It was inevitable.
He would likely be recalled by the dungeon whenever an intruder appeared but once the enemy was too strong all would go down the drain. If he died too soon he might even lose the tempered consciousnesses as well.
The only thing he had to gain from this was time. The chances of injuring intruders or weakening them would also grow significantly.
'Time for a new lesson then' Ed planned to finish his reading and writing lectures. He would have them write using magic. The earthen mages would have a particularly easy time for this. The others would have to carve in the dirt or walls. The earthen mages could aid in that process as well.
It shouldn't be impossible to write using water and fire as they are fairly tangible but the skill it would take to actually perform such a deed was not small. The skeletons weren't currently up to the task. As for wind… it was best not to consider it too deeply.
'Gather' Ed transmitted a single word but all of the curious skeletons instantly knew what would follow. The skeletons had just received a mana core so they would need to learn how to manipulate mana, right?
All of the skeletons gathered. Some were sitting on the hard ground and others stood by with blank expressions. They were skeletons, they couldn't really express themselves.
'Trench, come forward' Ed called on Trench. The skeleton in question was actually at the back of the large group.
Ed didn't care why but he needed the skeleton upfront. He had already taken the liberty to fix its consciousness, Trench wouldn't randomly freeze or experience signs of breakdown anymore.
Trench made its way through the skeletons surrounding Ed and came next to him. It was likely confused so Ed didn't waste any more time and got to the crux of the matter.
'Do you remember the letters I taught you?' Ed inquired. Trench's treatment required cutting off a small wisp of consciousness from it. Who knew if some knowledge was stored in there?
But Trench nodded.
'Good, create one using the earth' Ed's instruction was simple so Trench wasn't in any way confused. Its brown core began to shine slightly as Trench made the mana inside it travel towards the ground.
A protrusion appeared. It was the first letter of the local alphabet. It didn't differ too greatly from a sideways A.
'Well done, write your name' In the process of learning to read and write, the skeletons obviously learned of their names. Trench was no different.
The sideways A disappeared and was replaced by a word. It spelled Trench. Capitalized and all. The skeletons were quite talented. But it was expected, he was their teacher after all.
'If I brought instruction to my past life I'd be a world-class talent in regards to teaching' There was also a chance his brain would be dissected instead so it was best to not ponder on it too deeply.
'Did you see that? Use it to communicate. Trench will be in charge of all of you from now on.' Ed transmitted his final decision. He had chosen the smartest earthen mage to represent him since it was convenient. Trench would be able to write and his consciousness was only any lesser to Iron at the moment.
The ones with the orc consciousness, the majority, didn't show any strong emotions. Maybe a small shaking of surprise or complete indifference. Blaze however seemed to be opposed to the idea by the way its skull suddenly turned to gaze at Trench. It didn't have a face but it still managed to exude some killing intent!
'Any of you is free to challenge him for that right' The anti-skeletons with orc consciousnesses would likely be unable to defeat Trench even if they had the same skills, their understanding and intellect was at different levels.
Kenny Jr. and Blaze could give it a whirl. Blaze would likely lose simply because of the nature of his element. Kenny was also of the fire element and had an inferior intellect to Blaze. There was no need to wonder about the outcome.
But it made things competitive. The orc ones had the intelligence of the orcs. That didn't mean they would be rash and battle crazed but they might still be rather short-sighted. They might not know that Trench was an insurmountable wall.
'For the right to become the head lich' Ed was considering naming the position things ranging from executive to sovereign but settled for the head. Greater lich was also an option but could be confusing and was not necessarily a proper title.
Then it became time to denote responsibility. What exactly was the head lich supposed to do? Teach students of course! Ed didn't want to waste time with that every time. At times of war, it could also lead the troops in a battle no?
'Trench, do as I did to you. Teach the new liches to manipulate mana' Ed had taught Trench to manipulate mana before instruction came into play. Trench would be able to mimic his teaching methods. It appeared to Ed that consciousnesses had a great memory.
So… what was next?
His undead legion needed a base. The corridor was nice enough for the job but that being the case he couldn't leave it as it was. He had level six mana manipulation, what was stopping him from building a castle?
'My architectural skills I guess…' Ed couldn't build everything willy nilly. As he had run out of boar blood, he wouldn't be able to reinforce any crappy build through a formation and a crystal.
'A simple fort would do for now then' Ed nodded to himself and asked Trench to begin its lessons near the boss gate. He was sending them as far back as possible.
'Take the crystals with you too, you can use magic for that' He could do it himself but he needed to focus on building his dirt and rock castle.
The ground thus trembled under Ed's command. He would create a fortress wall. After that, he could create a throne room of sorts where he could rest his body. Of course, by rest, he meant to leave it there lifelessly.
He didn't want to return only to find himself on the ground. Wasn't that demeaning to his status? ...He didn't really care but the idea of having a large chair to boss people from seemed kind of cool.
Plus, if he created one for all bodies he was to ever gain wouldn't it eventually evolve into some sort of legend or religion among his subjects? That was definitely really cool!
'Ahem, it is to instill reverence in my subjects, yes' He wasn't childish! He was only eighteen anyway! Who was to say that was necessarily an adult…
'That actually sounds kind of pathetic when putting it that way' Ed decided to cast aside all useless thoughts and simply watched his work unfold.
The corridor was now sealed by a tall wall. It was at least half as tall as the boss gate. Ed stylized it a bit by making it seem like bricks on the surface. His manipulation had reached such a level even if it was somewhat straining.
After that, he created simple yet sturdy steps. It was like a classic fortress wall. There was no need to make anything look extravagant.
'If the skeletons need out they can just use magic' Ed didn't make a gate. He could have but opted not to as they didn't need one.
After that, he shifted his attention towards the leftover space. He was asking himself how to go about building his shrine slash throne room.
'I got it, I'll use the system space for reference' Ed could hop in and out of it so why not? It would in its own sort of way be consistent.
Thus, a miniature earthen temple started to raise from the still ground. Ed had to see the process of the system's white temple rising so many times that the ground was forming in a similar way.
An ancient like roof style, thick decorative pillars upholding said roof. Grand steps! It was a spitting image of the white temple. The only difference was the color and some minor details that Ed couldn't be bothered with.
'Perfect' Ed smiled inwardly gazing at his work.. He felt… satisfied.