After preparing a bag for W to carry both supplements and food, Ed sent himself off.
He was still somewhat hesitant to send what was nearly half of his consciousness health out into the world like that but if he started doubting himself then perhaps it would be best to rethink the whole legions and kingdoms thing. A leader had to be charismatic, there was nothing more charismatic than confidence.
As for the potential lost levels and skills... The levels were split somewhat awkwardly but he had retained all of his levels so, in the end, it wouldn't make too large a difference.
"I should now have time to see how Sharog and Vorgarag are doing…" He had spent a little less than two hours on the entire split self thing. The process of splitting on its own apparently accounted for about 10 minutes and the testing afterward took less than half an hour but making potions was not an instant process.
'By now Sharog should have contacted Vorgarag and come up with some things' This was why Ed found it to be a good time to join them. He couldn't say he was the brightest or anything but he did think he was capable of finding some creative uses for things that orcs wouldn't usually think about.
With these thoughts in mind, Ed took one last look at the fleeting figure of W. He really looked like he shouldn't have been sent off.
"Eh, he drunk another already…" Ed was no doctor but that couldn't be healthy. Ed then turned away from W, who would climb quietly out of the city with that weakened body as a way to exit the settlement, and headed towards the possible locations for Sharog.
Right off the bat, the first place he visited was the smithy. The reason was that it was placed at the center of the settlement. It was a good directional hub.
Ed didn't visit this place solely because of that, however. He also had to catch a glimpse of how the operation of the smithy was going.
"Ah… Wh- What… Why…!?" He was instantly shocked by the appalling sight before him. Those crazy orcs were fighting!
"I forged that iron!" One of the orcs yelled while holding a chisel as a weapon. The other orc replied in kind by throwing a hammer at them. Ed's hammer.
Ed wasn't too bothered by this on its own since he held little sentiment towards the hammer. Nevertheless, to have the only tools in the settlement used for such a thing was simply…
[A large group of trespassers has entered your floor]
Ed's thoughts and body instantly halted. He looked at the message awkwardly for a second before breathing out deeply. He was now calm.
"If you all don't want to smith anymore I am more than happy to oblige" Ed said with a smile on his face.
The orc with the chisel who took a hammer to the head was just about to attack with the chisel when it heard this and turned to look at Ed. The smile on his orcish face instantly made him feel uneasy.
"Erm, Ed…" The orc who had just thrown the hammer said while still holding his throwing posture.
"There will be more humans coming" Ed didn't bother with them anymore. He only said these words before approaching Shel who was only watching from the background with a dissatisfied expression.
The orcs who were messing about froze. Shel already knew this and had in fact even told this to the orcs but it seemed that they had only taken it as a hypothetical situation.
Shel was objectively close to Ed. That's how it looked to outsiders. Still, the orcs couldn't say she held a position of power. Orcs only trusted the words of the strong.
Orcs were creatures that almost lusted for battle. That didn't mean they welcomed death. They might not fear it but they would certainly prefer to be alive. After receiving this news from an official channel they would be stupid to continue fooling about.
"Do you know where Sharog went?" Ed asked Shel. This was actually his initial purpose in entering the smithy.
"Ummm... Sharog? She should be in the barracks" Shel responded simply no longer holding a dissatisfied frown. Ed could guess she had been angry that they didn't listen to her.
'Somehow it seems like Shel is the only sane one' He could still remember when she took him to a field of flowers to spar. Orcs were certainly funny creatures. Now however it seemed that his rejection among other things had made her reflect a bit more on her character.
'In that case…' Ed decided to trust her.
"From now on! Shel is in charge of you all!" Ed unexpectedly turned and practically screamed. The orcs instantly jumped in shock.
"Hey! How come that bitc-" One of them wasn't satisfied, however. This was one of the orcs that liked to cause trouble. His name was Uggug. His words were stuck in his throat the moment Ed leered at him, however.
As Orc hierarchy was decided on strength Ed had the final say. If he wanted someone to take on a certain role no one should object. If they did they had to be a fool or deem themselves more worthy.
"Shel, I'll leave the rest to you" Nevertheless, the ones that wanted to take the role still needed to be strong on their own. Ed felt he could always count on Shel being tough. He expected the orcs to suffer in the following days.
Shel dissatisfaction likely came not from her inability to stop the chaos in the smithy but rather from her fear to act and be misunderstood by Ed. Now that she had permission Ed was certain she wouldn't hesitate to beat the others up.
Ed then finally left the smithy. He was heading towards the barracks where he was certain to find Sharog. But he didn't leave easy, he left in a hurry. He practically dashed towards the barracks.
'I wonder if my other half got the message…' It was heading towards danger, so if it didn't, it could find trouble. Given that it didn't have the system however the chances were slim. Ed could only hope the retrieving was quick and smooth.
***
'Damn this body sucks' Ed, no, W, thought to himself as he took another break.
After climbing the tall settlement walls Rebub's body felt entirely wasted. It hadn't allowed him to take another step.
But with the power of drugs, anything was possible! W chugged as many strengthening potions as were necessary to carry on. This made it seem like W was in a rush, and he was.
W was well aware of the risks this operation held. Those risks would only come to pass if he died but the chances were actually not at all low.
'If I don't hurry the humans might come to me first' He couldn't be sure if the humans would find the skeleton body as it was likely hidden under leaves branches following the tremor but the same couldn't be said for him who was an orc running across the forest.
Orcs were usually tall, burly, or both. Though the green could allow one to be less easily noticed in a forest everything had its limits.
W was afraid to die. That was because he was uncertain of what would become of him once he did. If he couldn't receive messages from the system it was dubious whether or not the dungeon could recall him.
Separating the two entities gave one a clear view of how exactly the dungeon tracked and managed him. It was through the system. The only thing unique to itself was the pulling and inserting into bodies but everything else was the system.
Ed felt naked for the first time. That was right, ED felt naked. In the end, this experience would be passed onto Ed once both consciousnesses merged and he would be able to feel every emotion and pain that might arise from it.
That was of course assuming that W could make it back alive… That was yet to be seen.
'That's probably the scariest part' Just like how he couldn't know when the adventurers were to enter this floor. His main consciousness wouldn't be able to know when he died. His death would be known by none.
To the adventurers, he would be astray hungry orc. If they killed him they wouldn't even bat an eye or think twice about his identity.
Driven by this urgency, W did not rest anymore. He only drank the healing supplements as he saw fit to replenish the lost energy and only daring to take breaks after an entire hour of running.
With haggard breath, came night time. He made it to the area where his skeleton body was supposed to be.
"This was harder than it should have been… Haaaa…." His potion pouch had surprisingly gone empty two hours ago. W's body felt horrible after all that tireless running. Only the insanity brought by the orc blood fruits which he feasted on provided him with enough energy to continue.
W's heart thumped repeatedly and rapidly. The negative side effects seemed to include a possible heart attack from overdosing or consuming the potion over large periods of time.
W didn't think about this anymore and began to search for the body. He walked around the forest aimlessly trying to properly imagine the trajectory he took and no matter how many times he did it, he could only come to one conclusion.
"M- My body… It's gone!" The first culprit he could think of was the dungeon but he found this to be a bit illogical at the same time. It hadn't eaten it before so why now? Was it because he became a cripple? What was the point of giving him body recollection then?
This could only mean one thing.... Something had taken his body!