Were it not for the piercing pain Ed would be seething with anger.
It felt like when your parents or a teacher punished you without giving you a single explanation or a chance to explain your point of view, that feeling was simply infuriating.
Of course, the sheer pain he was feeling prevented Ed from thinking any such thoughts. It would be simply impossible to do so with all of his senses thrown out of whack.
[5:21 minutes until respawn]
It was only until the usual ten-minute timer had been cut in half that Ed was able to regain his ability to think clearly. His whole body, even though it was nothing more than ethereal light, was still numb and throbbing with pain, however.
'You piece of sh*t!' Ed didn't like to curse out the dungeon, well just a bit, but he felt it was necessary on this particular occasion. It was worth noting that attacking Ed while he was being recalled did not benefit either one of the parties.
[Name: Edw#&!]
Type: Level 7 Consciousness.
Health: 500/800
Bodies: Skeleton, Orc
~Skills~
[Transmission lvl. 4 (-3)] -Show info-
[Mental Fortitude lvl. 7] -Show info-
[Assessment lvl. 2] -Show info-
[Assimilation lvl. 5] -Show info-
[Thought Manifestation lvl. 1 (-1)] -Show info-
[Language lvl. 1] -Show info-
[???] -Show info-
[Eloquence lvl. 4] -Show info-
[Sixth Sense lvl. 1 (-1)] -Show info-
'F*ck-! My skills...' The damage suffered to what was basically his soul caused his skills to deteriorate in level once again.
The last time he was attacked, his transmission skill had been the only one affected but this time… perhaps due to the severity of the strike Ed had lost a grand total of 5 levels on three different skills.
The only saving grace was that none of the damage was permanent even if it would take a good while to recover from it. On another note, the affected skills seemed to be somewhat random.
'It also looks like my sixth sense leveled up…' It was ultimately pointless given that the dungeon had just made him temporarily lose that level, however. Ed then glanced at the corner of his vision where an envelope with an exclamation mark was located.
[Opening missed messages]
[Sixth Sense has leveled up]
The missed message was about the level up just as he had expected.
'The skill must level up when it helps me discern active danger' Whether he was capable of avoiding it was another matter entirely.
While the final throes of pain started to subside, Ed decided to confront the dungeon.
'I don't know what I did wrong but you should be able to tell I am helping you!' There were a couple of things that the dungeon could be mad about.
It could be angry that Ed was taking the souls and consciousnesses or it could be after finding out that Ed was able to modify the skeletons and improve on them. Regardless of which of these reasons it was… the dungeon still benefitted!
[...]
Ed received a short response. The only problem was that he wasn't sure if it was a result of the dungeon not meaning to reply or the system withholding the dungeon's response.
'As a matter of fact, I could do much more without your interruption!' Ed decided to continue. If the dungeon was not hearing him then… so be it! He would vent out his frustrations and hopefully receive a response. He had already decided to cooperate with the system what more was it to get the dungeon on board?
[Champion is advised to be careful]
Another warning. Ed was still unsure if that was from the system or the dungeon though.
'All I ask is that you stop keeping such close tabs on me' Decreasing his levels for an offense that he didn't know he committed would set some of his progress back. Not being able to enter the system space would also set some of his progress back. The dungeon was not being helpful whatsoever.
Any rewards it handed him were also done half-assedly. Initially, Ed was rewarded rather often and even handsomely at times. Assimilation was one such great yield in fact.
However, after the carrot and the stick method started to show results, the rewards had become further and further apart. The things he had to do had grown in difficulty and once accomplished would give him nothing more than a couple of attributes and a regenerated body.
The dungeon was starting to get complacent, like a boss or coworker after you decide to help them out with an issue once or twice. It didn't all of sudden become Ed's responsibility to do these things, he was still expecting some sort of reward.
Did he not just kill good forty-something adventurers? Where was his loot!?! The biggest disappointment was not the sword of disappointment but the dungeon and its complacency.
'I am living under your terms but it's still a bit ridiculous, no?' Being brought back to life was a big deal and to an extent, it did demand some level of servitude, but who would be willing to be revived if they would end up as nothing but a slave anyway?
They say that if you love your job you'll never work a day in your life but there was nothing to love about mindless slaughter. The sight of the blood dripping from the teeth of the anti-skeletons after ripping open the humans was not pretty or exciting.
Then, out of nowhere, a promising message!
[The system has observed your actions up until this point, selecting a suitable reward...]
Ed still felt the pain of having been attacked but if the reward was hefty enough then it just may have been worth it! Though he would still hold a grudge...
Regardless, Ed's main concern was to send the dungeon a message. He needed it to know it was being cheap so even if the dungeon didn't provide him a heavenly gift as long as it learned to be more open to rewards then Ed would have benefited from his rant.
[< Body Recollection lvl. 0> Acquired]
Sleep to slowly regenerate lost limbs through the power of recollection. The extent of reconstruction is proportionate to the amount of sleep and the severity of the injury as well as the complexity of the injured part.
The description was rather lengthy but that was only a testament to how valuable the skill was! As a matter of fact, Ed felt his mind being blown away by its utility. He could already see himself making the most of the skill!
'I can cut off my own limbs and use it to create new skeletons or even craft items with my own body parts!' The dungeon more likely than not wanted to cut its losses by giving Ed the ability to regenerate for himself, it probably didn't expect Ed to start thinking in such an odd direction.
'Crafting is yet to be tested' Still, Ed was looking forward to slicing off his own limbs to recreate a skeleton, as odd as that was.
'Although I guess I would first need to know how long it would take to recover' The more constitution he acquired, the more time it would take to reconstruct bones. That meant that it was very well possible for Ed to simply incapacitate himself for a period of time if he was too willy nilly.
'Sigh, it'll take a while to level this up then' If the level up relied on how many parts he had regenerated or something similar then he would definitely be fighting an uphill battle with the skill.
'Wait… can I resurrect my body from scratch?' As soon as this thought was birthed in Ed's mind he felt like he should complain more often.
Previously he had deduced that he was simply possessing a body and that his consciousness was his true form. He didn't know how to exit a body meaning he was relying on the dungeon to keep himself alive.
'With this, I should be able to recreate my body' The skill was called body recollection and relied on memory.
'Then it might depend on whether or not the energy it uses is of mind or body' The description mentioned sleep rather than some sort of intangible energy. That was not to say the mind was off the table but thinking in that direction might be too hopeful on his part.
After some more short minutes of pondering, Ed's thoughts forced to a halt after feeling a strong sucking force being exerted on his consciousness.
[Summoning Dungeon Champion]
Ed's consciousness was thus tossed away and delegated to a body, his orc body. But unlike what Ed was expecting he wasn't laying down on the grass near the settlement. He was in fact inside of a house.
This alarmed Ed forcing him to push aside the usual grogginess that came with transferring bodies. He laid up from the bed he found himself on and darted a glance around. It didn't dart far, Shel was in fact laying next to him.
"...hm?" Apparently his sudden movement had woken her up causing her to look around in a daze. That until she quickly got up with elation.
"Ed! Thank God you are fine!" That was what she yelled but Ed only held an awkward smile.
"I- I wouldn't know what to do if our babies were born without a father…" Shel said while seeming legitimately downcast.
'Bab- babies?' Putting the plural aside, Ed realized that Shel was being a bit too… clingy.
In human society, such a thing might be considered to an extent normal. People with certain morals would choose to marry someone after having sex with them but… this wasn't human society.
The orcs were wild and untamed, a father figure was not guaranteed. Breeding was in fact a sort of transaction.
The women would pick the strongest male to have a strong child and the relationship wouldn't develop much further than that. The mothers would then boast about their children as they grew up and become a strong member of society.
"Shel, you need to stop" Ed said solemnly forcing Shel who was still in the midst of speaking about her worries freeze.
"Wh- What?" She said her voice somewhat broken in disbelief.