Thinking about it a bit, Ed shouldn't have actually found the alert that surprising.
[A trespasser has left the floor]
He shouldn't have been yet he was alarmed. Eon ran for the next floor gate! That was bad news no matter what! Ed's alarm then turned into astoundment as the thought properly settled and sunk in his mind.
'Who powers up just to run away…?' Wasn't that both deceitful and wasteful? Did humans no longer have a thing call pride? Ed knew that when he was a human he ha-
'No I didn't…' He tossed the matter aside and stopped to think about the more pressing and important question. Should he follow him?
This was a hard question. Ed knew that not just one human had entered this floor but also that the dungeon wouldn't like letting any slip by. Ed could argue the dungeon was being too paranoid but… he had no idea what was on the next floor, it was very well possible that it was for some reason easier.
He couldn't assume that Eon would face a formidable boss. Plus, even if the boss was stronger than Blurak they would still face certain death. Ed had no way to gauge how long Blurak lasted but giving the clean battlefield it couldn't have been very long.
'Speaking of… how did that happen?' There was no blood in the vicinity and there was also nobody. So where did Blurak go? It was weird. The only one that knew the answer to this was in the system but…
'I can't enter it…' Ed was worried by this news. The dungeon was watching.
[Champion is advised to press forward]
Advise. Ed was really starting to hate that word and it had technically been quite a while since he last saw it. Needless to say, it had left a huge impression on him.
"If I do that the orcs here will perish for sure!" Ed decided to argue a bit first.
[Champion is advised to press forward]
'Not moved huh…' Ed was not surprised but he was somewhat disappointed. Without the orcs, defeating future waves of humans would be difficult.
"I need those orcs!" Ed shouted again still not willing to give up all his progress for the sake of a single individual.
[Failure to meet expectations will result in a punishment.]
"I can't-" Ed didn't get to finish his words. His mouth froze remaining open and his eyes widened.
[Extreme pain has been selected as the punishment]
The dungeon was screwing him over rather nicely, wasn't it? Making him toss aside all of his kingdom building was not a nice thing to do.
'F*ck you!' Ed cursed not taking a step forward. The system surprisingly didn't warn him anymore.
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHH!!!!' It turned out that this was a bad thing. Ed's body bent over in pain and his eyes rolled back. He crumbled onto the rocky ground and thrashed about wildly like an animal.
'F*CK YOU!!!!!' But Ed's opinion did not change. His body convulsed in pain but he was not going to leave his orcs to die. He was willing to compromise if the dungeon was willing but it clearly had no such intentions.
"AAAAR- UR- AAAAARGHH!!!" Ed's screams vibrated in the cavern sounding like the roar of a dying beast. Had there been anyone in the vicinity they would have certainly received quite a scare from these deathly echoes.
This punishment lasted a minute. At which point Ed's body felt sore beyond belief and his will had reached an all-time low. Ed already knew that his consciousness could be affected by his body, especially with strong emotions. Was there something greater than pain?
This piercing pain thus left him numb to the next message.
[Recalling Champion's Soul]
The message which he was not at all estranged for some reason felt foreboding and ominous. The precursor to the dungeon having its way with him…
By the time Ed was recovered his vision he was a dazzling light inside of the boundless dark.
'If you do this we are both going to lose!' Ed wasn't against chasing after Eon, the current conditions were simply not the best. If he could for example send W in his stead or just leave W behind then things would be fine but...
[Champion will be subjected to 3 hours of isolation]
The dungeon really knew how to irk him. He would rather not spend time dead but spending time in isolation was no different! Well, if there was a difference, that was that it gave the added effect of making him want to lose his mind!
'Why!?' What did he do wrong!? He was preparing and he was fighting but a single moment of hesitation was perceived as being uncooperative!? Why!?
'F*ck you! F*ck you!' The maturity that he had attained from the perilous situations and his status of power in the village seemed to have been lost as Ed reverted to cursing the dungeon over and over again with the same exact simple words.
[Thought Manifestation is in effect]
All of a sudden, Ed's body of light which had been struggling fiercely under the pressure of the dungeon inside of the dark space sent off a shockwave of light. For a brief second, Ed regained his mobility.
This brief second was enough, however.
[Thought manifestation has leveled up]
With his newfound freedom of floating Ed was able to also gain some determination. This in turn allowed him to activate his thought manifestation a second time.
If there was one key difference however was that this time Ed didn't release a shockwave of light. There were two reasons for this.
One was his splitting mind-ache, two was how the dungeon would split his mind into two and finish him for good if things didn't get sorted.
'Urgh…' What Ed did instead was form a shield. Light like particles had enveloped his entire surroundings and the pressure placed on him by the dungeon was successfully warded off. Though at the cost of his own health.
[Name: Edw#&!]
Type: Level 7 Consciousness.
Health: 323/480
Bodies: Skeleton, Orc
~Skills~
[Transmission lvl. 1] -Show-
[Mental Fortitude lvl. 5] -Show-
[Assessment lvl. 1] -Show-
[Assimilation lvl. 3] -Show-
[Thought Manifestation lvl. 2 ] -Show-
[Language lvl. 0] -Show-
[System Link lvl. 3] -Show-
[Eloquence lvl. 2(-1)] -Show-
[Sixth Sense lvl. 1(-1)] -Show-
[Body Recollection lvl. 2(-2)] -Show-
Thought manifestation was really taxing. To be fair, it was quite literally manifesting his thoughts. It used up his own health as a consciousness to manifest his thoughts into reality. This allowed Ed to create those shockwaves as well as shield himself.
It did just the same in reality but as it was no longer limited in the mind space it became closer to manipulating his own mind. It was fascinating. Ed never thought to use it this way though it was to be fair a passive skill.
'You are better off giving up!' Ed yelled as he mustered up more will and determination with every passing second. This also meant that his health was deteriorating more and more with every passing second…
[You've been dealt indirect damage… -1 hp]
[You've been dealt indirect… -2 hp]
[You've been… -4 hp]
But Ed had no choice, because in the end no matter how much of himself he put into his self-defense effort, the dungeon would always double its pressure in response.
If the battle between Ed and the dungeon were to be described, it would be like a battle between two tycoons. The health was of course representing wealth and his young business could not compete with the giant that was Dungeon Inc.
Ed was, therefore… slowly… but maturely… getting thoroughly crushed.
'I'm really going to die!' Ed thought as he saw the damage indicators continue to drastically rise in numbers. With the increased harm to his mind, the pain he suffered was starting to wilt his will and his own thoughts were becoming distorted or sluggish.
'I'm really going to die…' As soon as these thoughts started to enter Ed's mind he had obviously lost the battle. His shield of light that was made up of his own health started to falter and shrink slowly towards his own body which no longer shone with the same radiance.
[<System Link lvl. 3> is in effect]
That was when hope came knocking. The system link skill came into effect and Ed's mind which was on the verge of breaking was suddenly enveloped in a white flame.
This was obviously the same flame he had purchased. The ethereal spark upgrade that originated from the forge was for some reason ten times as powerful.
'I can… do it…' This brief thought caused Ed to muster some final resistance as his body started to turn into liquid and out of his own mind came out… himself. His other half.
[+320 HP]
[Merging skills...]
Ed saw these notices appear in front of him as he struggled to ignore the seething pain of the merge. Under normal circumstances, he would blackout during the process but perhaps because the system was extra careful in not letting that happen or because he was still putting up resistance he stayed awake to witness this.
[Mental Fortitude has leveled up]
[Mental Fortitude has met the conditions to advance, Advance Mental Fortitude Skill? Y/N]
Another string of messages. Ed barely managed to transmit the words yes to the system without sending a single transmission.
[<System Link lvl. 3> is in effect]
[Choose the path of advancement]
'Hah…' Ed's mind which was exhausted seemed to see past the blur that was everything and read such a message.. It was clear that the system brought out all the stops for this occasion.