The sun rose come morning and Ed had not gotten much sleep. He was far too busy cutting himself.
'Hm? I fell asleep again' Through the many trials Ed had learned one thing. The skill was not automatic. He could fall asleep but if he didn't will for the skill to act then his body would not regenerate even the smallest nub.
[Body Recollection has leveled up]
'Great!' Ed thought as he glanced at his hand. He had cut off three fingers and all three had been regenerated following the short nap. Of course, he had cut many more fingers than just that. More than he could count in two hands in fact.
'Well, that's kind of to be expected…' Ed thought and glanced at the bloody floor. Surprisingly enough most of his blood had still not been collected by the dungeon.
'I wonder why…' Ed's brief scan also showed that many of his lost fingers and even a hand still remained on the ground. As Ed wondered how he should go about cleaning the evidence, someone called out to him.
"Ed!" It was the loud call of a male orc.
'They must be looking to continue on our move' Orcs were wild and full of energy so it was only natural for them to want to get a move on as soon as possible.
'Well, it's not like they have anything else to do' Ed thought as he casually incinerated the blood and fingers that lay on the ground before casually exiting the house.
"Oh! There you are Ed!" As soon as he exited, that same male orc approached Ed.
"Why do I smell something delicious?" The orc however came to a slow stop after catching a whiff of a meaty fragrance.
"Nevermind that, let's move on" Ed said quickly diverting the topic.
"Uhm… ok" The orc didn't ask any further questions and they both left to what used to be the tribe's plaza. Most of the orcs responsible for carts or other sorts of products and items were waiting for him there.
Shel too had gotten up early that morning. Ed spotted her standing casually next to one of the carts.
"Good morning" Shel said towards the approaching Ed.
"Good morning" Ed replied with a subtle smile. He was glad that Shel wasn't giving him the cold shoulder, she was a good friend to have and Ed certainly didn't want to lose her over such a small matter.
Ed, and the orc who had taken him there, chatted for a bit while some other orcs were accounted for. Shel would also occasionally say or mention some of the things they talked about especially when it was related to battle. Well, that was basically all they talked about anyway.
They soon after settled breakfast by dividing some rations and started their march towards the sacred tribe once more. Dakgu had already appeared at that point and bid the settlement goodbye. He had his qualms but had to simply cope with the fact that by the time he gets the chance to return, the settlement would be in a much more deplorable state.
But Ed didn't pay any of that much mind. There was something anxiously nagging at the back of his mind.
'Things would be much easier with Vorgarag here' The whole pilgrimage towards the sacred tribe was nearly a one to one copy of his previous journey with Vorgarag.
There, Vorgarag had taken charge of breakfast and departure times. This duty now fell on him, however, and he couldn't say he was doing a stellar job at it. Ed didn't know even half of the settlement's orcs!
Ed still remembered their first meeting where Vorgarag had played a weird prank on him. The whole exchange was stupid but Vorgarag's mention of knowing everyone there spoke volumes of his beliefs.
While that wasn't a necessity for taking on a leadership role, Vorgarag's cohesion with his tribe was admirable and created a sort of trust between him and his inhabitants.
Ed on the other hand… had them all in awe of his strength but half of those same orcs still showed hints of resentment.
'Can't win them all' That was a truth that applied to many facets of reality. Ed decided not to ponder on it too deeply anymore. For one Vorgarag had quite literally his entire life to bond and learn about them. Ed didn't have nor would have so much time.
After some more hours of walking and short breaks, the caravan of orcs finally exited the deep forest and chanced upon the light of a clearing.
As they drew near, the orcs could see the stalwart walls and their weathered vine ridden state. A small minority was astounded by the implications while most simply rejoiced at the thought of having a settlement with such strong stone walls at their disposal.
Atop the tall walls were a couple of orcs, these orcs were some awaiting Ed's return.
"EEEDDD!!!" One screamed jovially in greeting making rambunctious noise. On the plus side, it meant Ed didn't need to alert the other orcs of his return.
The orcs were finally confronted by the settlement's gate which was slowly opened and allowed them passage. By the time most of the orcs entered, Sharog had found the time to run on over.
"Ed! Welcome back! You got here quick" Sharog said with a bright smile over the noisy reunion of many orcs. It would look weird or threatening in most other orcs but Sharog had a slim and graceful figure, were it not for her skin and the small tusks she could perhaps be mistaken as human.
"Yeah, there are still many things left for me to do here. How are the captives?" Ed replied before quickly shifting to a topic of interest.
"Ah, most of them are still alive but we haven't fed them" Sharog replied putting Ed somewhat at ease. The latter part could be said to be concerning but the orcs wouldn't starve to death in a week never mind two days.
"Good, how about your own food situation?" Ed hadn't forgotten that they never managed to find any boars while he was there. The food situation might not have been optimistic.
"It's alright, Gurln was very cooperative and told us about their garden" Sharog said darting a quick look back where Gurln watched from a distance. As he was being taught some spells by her, he opted to tell her how they tended to ration their food and what exactly it was they ate.
"I see" Ed simply replied. He had already harbored his own suspicions on how exactly it was that the tribe managed to survive for so long. Sacrifices alone weren't in any way sustainable.
'I'm surprised they didn't breed boars though' The thought was far more primitive than selectively breeding weeds or even magically breeding said weeds as a source of nutrients. Ed could only chalk it up to their religion. If there was plenty of food the act of sacrifices would eventually be called into question by the less devout or smart believers.
Sharog knew that Ed was thinking and thus maintained her silence only waiting for Ed to make a new inquiry or request. It didn't take long for him to deliver either.
"Sharog, can you please help settle the inhabitants into the vacant houses?" Ed asked sincerely. The leadership role came with many responsibilities but Ed had no time for them. He needed to delegate the troublesome matters.
"It's no problem" Sharog nodded and said before briskly leaving to organize the matter. Finding vacant houses was actually rather easy considering the size of the settlement, the more important questions were where exactly should the boars and crystals be held.
Ed could quickly suggest a couple of locations if he had walked around the settlement and explored it thoroughly but he hadn't. He also didn't plan to. He immediately went on his way to the barracks where the captives were still present.
'My assimilation should be getting off cooldown soon' Ed had used overnight when experimenting with the new skill. He assimilated one of the hands he chopped up and surprisingly received a single point of dexterity.
'I thought a hand would be more… handy' The usefulness of a single dexterity attribute could be called into question. Nonetheless what Ed now planned to assimilate was a corpse.
'The dungeon isn't very fast, it's just a matter of convenience' The timing was never right for assimilating the corpses of orcs or others until now.
'Such is the assimilation skill' Ed remarked inwardly while finally entering into the barrack's dark prison.
[Assimilation is off cool down]
Last time there were many defiant stares but now… Some of the orcs seemed feeble and pitiful. While they hadn't immediately slimmed down to the size of a stick, their countenance had certainly grown paler.
"God! God! Help me God!" Some had also gone down cuckoo road and decided to stay there a while as the desperate raving made clear.
Ed however didn't spare any of them a single glance of sympathy, his expression had remained cold and indifferent like he was doing nothing more than picking chickens.
[Gaturn (Starving)]
A name popped up after Ed threw a cursory glance and performed a random scan. The assessment skill made its choice.
Ed's presence had long since been made aware of to the captives but worry only settled once he approached a cell.
With a simple grab, Ed unhinged the cell door from its frame and broke apart any rope that bound it. The display of brutish strength startled the starving Gaturn to the point where he fearfully backed himself into a corner.
Orcs were brave and fearless by nature but spending more than two days without food in a dark unkept cell would put any creature at the edge of insanity had they not already crossed into it.
"AAaaRg-" Ed then simply killed Gaturn by puncturing his screaming throat. The resonating frightened scream didn't appeal to Ed, he found it best to quickly silence him.
This action however chilled the other captives especially those that still held the hope of escaping the ordeal unharmed.
"GOD! GOD!" The scream made mad orc was now only more loud and incessant in their crazed rambling.
[Assimilation is on cooldown]
[Consitution +1]
[Vitality +1]
Surprisingly enough, the prompt assimilation only yielded a total of two attributes.
'I wonder if my body is reaching its limit or if assimilating your same species naturally yields fewer points' From a logical perspective the former didn't make too much sense but if the decision was deliberate then the reasoning had some merit. The dungeon certainly had no reason to encourage Ed to kill his fellow mobs.
'Huh, I don't think I've assimilated a body before' Ed thought casually before shifting his attention back to the screaming orc and their despairing cries.
'I can finally start my experiments' Ed trusted the dungeon would be less intrusive now.
