Under the commotion of battle, Balin and his team of mages continued forward until finally reaching the end of the tunnel. At this point, all traces left by fire melting ice were non-existent. Any progress was man-made, well, orc-made.
Balin touched the rough icy surface for a bit before finally telling the mages to get to work. Quickly, the work was divided among themselves.
The fire mages let out the heat which turned the ice into water, which was filtered away by the water mages. The earthen mages were to be ready for surprise attacks and anyone else was to be on the offensive.
The ice which had been slowly wilted away by the orcs was practically disappearing at the hands of the humans. Balin only stood by the side overlooking the operation while also making sure to keep an eye on the situation behind him.
The noisy battle cries of the orcs could not be missed and as the number of dying wails started to become zero Balin concluded the battle was soon to be over. This made him hold a heavy heart.
It was true that he had set them up for casualties but it was also impossible to lose no one in war. Real-life was full of unexpected variables, this didn't apply to battles because sometimes you wouldn't even know if this was real life! And what variables couldn't appear in a fantasy?
So, he learned to make sacrifices. That made him feel like a hypocrite. His promise to never make use of others just to throw them away, where did it take him? But since life was full of unexpected variables as he had stated this was expected.
"Sir, we see something" The tunnel which had grown at least twice as long was now close enough to vaguely see a dark figure. This dark figure was like that of a boulder.
"Let's turn here then" The Boulder was located to their right. They had to change paths to reach it.
The mages obliged and promptly began the process anew. The path was being built without a hitch and in a matter of minutes, they would be able to find out what that boulder was.
Time passed, and finally, silence reigned supreme. They were there. The sounds of battle were over and similarly, they had carved out the area around the boulder. After some basic defensive preparations, Balin acquired the free time to inspect the boulder. The boulder seemed to hold knowledge. Sufficient to say, this was a relic.
Balin was amazed by the history ingrained in the boulder. Let it be clear, he could not at all understand the language but the things he could infer from images alone were amazing.
"This dungeon must be very old" This was common for the very powerful dungeons but for the rest, the same could not be said.
For a brief moment, Balin entertained the idea that time was the reason why the dungeons discovered today were stronger than those of the past. But that seemed to imply all dungeons were born at the exact same time, and wouldn't that be ridiculous?
Balin shook the thought away and decided that it was of utmost importance to retrieve this boulder and have it inspected by royal alchemists and historians.
"Hmmm… We'll have to carefully piece it apart" Balin said finishing his inspection.
But just as he was about to lay his hand on the boulder to determine where to split it apart he found himself touching empty air. His eyes which were colored with surprise quickly regained their usual sternness.
The large boulder disappeared, but boulders didn't do that on their own. He unsheathed a knife and caught a glimpse of his target. Underground.
The blade shot at the greenish figure, but the blow was easily deflected by the likely orcs' adept axe technique.
"Kill it!" Balin shouted unsheathing his sword in a swift motion. His long sword which was coated with blue mana sliced through the cavern ground as if it were mud.
But to Ed, this was a simple matter of fighting mana with mana.
'You wanted my boulder? I'll give you something heavy!' The ground through which the blade was cutting through hardened suddenly through the insertion of earthen mana and Ed's figure jumped out of the hole with nothing but a fist, a fist!
Balin who had missed his target reinforced his body in preparation to be struck and struck his body was. The blow seemed to twist the surrounding air!
Yet after landing on Balin's body, he didn't move a single inch. "Argh-!" He instead spat out a mouthful of blood. At some point somehow foreign mana had made its way into his body and was starting to run rampant.
Ed was obviously responsible for this and he had to thank a recent epiphany. He knew to insert mana into the bodies of others, he had known for a long while. But he could never justify using it in combat. If he could cut someone apart in a swift strike why bother wasting mana?
But… this simple waste of mana could sometimes be worth it if it could serve to stun the opponent in close-quarter combat. The thought of facing equal opponents was what led him to this epiphany but it was also the fact that his storeroom could be a weapon.
Balin's upper half was tilted back after being smacked with a piece of raw orc iron directly on his helmet protected face. But just because he had a helmet it didn't mean it didn't hurt.
Blood seeped outside his helmet after his nose started to bleed profusely. With the lowered stance his head had taken, it was the perfect time for Ed to finish up the short combo.
The lump of iron disappeared and was replaced by an axe which he gripped tightly already in a cleaving motion.
But before he could execute this perfect follow up...
"Crap!" Ed audibly exclaimed after being grazed by a blade of wind. This was nothing on its own but what about the rest of the volley? Where Ed jumped into was not an arena, it was a small cavity carved out by a fairly sizeable group of mages.
Spears of Earth sunk into his body and bolts of fire blew him away from Balin with each subsequent explosion.
[You've been dealt a critical hit. -123]
[You've been dealt damage. -35]
[You've been dealt a critical hit. -79]
With the random slew of spells, the damage he took varied but what really mattered was that this was a sizeable chunk of damage. This combined with the events that happened outside this unique ice tunnel Ed could not say he was in an advantageous position.
Thus, as soon as his body hit itself against the ice wall he decided it was best to run for it. The earth rose to protect his body from further battering and his body slumped into the ground which seemed to be sucking him up like a living thing.
[Mana Manipulation has met the conditions to advance, Advance Mana Manipulation Skill? Y/N]
'Damn, it shut up!' Ed exclaimed as the window had suddenly obstructed his view. This was the second time the message had appeared. Then why hadn't he said yes yet?
Well, he wanted more than just one option and he felt he had the right to be picky, but now was not the time to consider this.
The walls he had set up to protect himself were destroyed but as his figure had disappeared from the scene there was nothing to worry about. It was a clean escape by all means. ...or it would have been if his ability to move across rock ground was any good.
For one, his mana manipulation had only recently made it to level nine, and two, at one point or another, he was trapped.
He planned on exiting the premise as soon as he grabbed his boulder but he hadn't expected to be caught up in a fight. To be fair he was the one that jumped out of the hole, but he did have to appease the dungeon somehow. He was only allowed after so much negotiation after all.
'Damn!' It was all he could say as roots started to wrap around his body like vines. If he was above ground he could have tried to set it on fire, but how was he going to light a flame surrounded by dirt?
With no other choice, Ed used the area store upgrade to grab a handful of dirt and replace it with a crystal.
[You've been dealt explosive damage. -82 hp]
The earth shook briefly after a fiery explosion burst out from where Ed should have been. The immediate vicinity of the explosion was filled with shrapnel which forced the mages into a defensive position. Their weak bodies couldn't afford to take such hits, especially not those on the low end of the B-class spectrum.
But… if the explosion was powerful enough to turn the surrounding rock into shrapnel… what happened to Ed? This was also the thought shared by Balin.
Unbeknownst to him… this orc was just as capable as the skeleton of teleporting when things got tough.
The plant root boundary was a smart trap. Balin laid out the seeds in advance but unfortunately for him, these were just an underground wall that would try to wrap around a target at his behest.
Ed could simply hop across this wall. He had been set free.
[Champion is advised-]
Ed didn't even bother to finish reading the message, he had a plan!