Once more returning to the present, Ed and the others finally exited the barracks which were looking less than stellar at the moment. The area surrounding the discount lab was greatly destroyed. It was as if an earthquake had hit, which wasn't wrong in its entirety.
Having only briefly taken in this surrounding, Ed led out the orcs while holding some things into consideration.
[Mana Manipulation has met the conditions to advance, Advance Mana Manipulation Skill? Y/N]
The advancement message for mana manipulation skill continued to pop up with an increasingly large interval. That meant that Ed could ignore it forever and one day it would only appear before him after a year but he had no interest in doing that. He just wanted more options.
'System, how does this work?' Ed had never said no before, but that was also probably why he never received any other options. He might be only meeting the basic conditions for advancement but missing the higher picture.
[Clearance insufficient for an answer.]
Ed was left disappointed by the system's response. Was it such a large secret? It looked like he would have to come up with a decision himself, the main problem was that if there was some sort of secret higher condition he needed to meet… what were they?
Mental fortitude's basic upgrade was psychopathy. It implied he had walled off his emotions and to a certain extent, that was true. But he couldn't say it was definitely so.
'The basic advancement can screw me over' The skill seemed like it would turn him into an emotionless being. Not entirely, but nearly so.
For mana manipulation, the advancement he would receive could not be bad as it didn't mess with his mind, but the possibility existed that it could be better.
So, it could be said that Ed's mind had been made up all along.
'Maybe in the future, you'll show me the locked possibilities and maybe even their requirements but for now… I can't take a shot in the dark' Ed's words were a clear refusal, the message now disappeared from his mind.
[Advancement declined]
Seeing the message, Ed had to wonder… Would he ever get to see it again? What if meeting new conditions didn't prompt it? Or what if denying it was the end of it all period?
Ed didn't really fear either outcome, he could just get it with another body and find out for sure that way. Orcs didn't make the best mages anyway so it wouldn't be too large a loss.
With his mind made up and his worries settling, Ed's mind returned to the present.
'Eh, we are here already?' He was surprised to find that he and the others were already back at Sanctuary's center. This only meant that Ed now had to act as a leader.
"Put the injured inside houses, I'm going to go prepare more potions." Their potion supply was empty, Ed had to return to the wayward garden and make more. Or at least this was the cover-up he planned on creating. He still needed to perform a consciousness level up after all.
"What about Dakgu?" Shel who was still carrying him asked. Ed frowned looking at the cold body of the young orc once more.
[Dakgu's Body]
Ed nearly received a heart attack after assessing Dakgu's condition, but he quickly regained his composure and continued to read the details.
{ The young orc Dakgu's well-preserved body. His consciousness has already returned to meet its maker }
But the details were not good at all. They were in fact abysmal.
'Damn it!' Ed screamed inwardly clenching his hands into fists. Wasn't that too unfair? Why did Dakgu have to die?
"He might be dead..." Ed said through gritted teeth sharing the news with the others.
"Wh- What?! No, that can't be!" Sharog interjected wholly denying the possibility. Ed didn't know they had gotten so close, it was really heartwarming. But one day she would have to cross the state of denial.
"He is still alive though!" Shel also pitched in and said before lifting the body of her shoulder and inspecting his breathing. He was still breathing.
"Th- Then…!" Ed's eyes widened as he thought back to the short assessment once more. Lifeless! Returned to the maker! The body had remained alive while his consciousness left the body!
'There might still be hope' Ed just had to get the consciousness back from the dungeon which… was something he didn't really think he could achieve. The dungeon likely hated his guts and thought of him as some sort of leech.
"Then?" Sharog probed hoping Ed would tell them his solution.
"We need the goblins!" Ed declared abruptly causing the other two to share questioning glances.
"So, where are the goblins?" Sharog asked with interest. She was still curious as to how exactly the goblins managed to escape. She believed that confronting them might help her know in more detail. If she could also help Dakgu in the process there was nothing to lose.
But Ed didn't seem to be immediately keen on tending to this problem.
"I understand your rush but let's first deal with the other injured, Dakgu should live fine for the time being" Now that he knew Dakgu's condition and found a cure, he was no longer a priority. Ed now really needed that level- Those potions, he needed to make the potions for the injured orcs.
"So you are going to make the potions now?" Sharog asked, to which Ed nodded
"Take me with you and teach me" Sharog then said some unexpected words which took Ed a bit aback. But he quickly recovered from the small shock Ed cleared his throat and considered the request.
"Umm, sure" The consideration didn't take long as Sharog had already earned Ed's full trust. They shared many ups and downs at this point so it was only natural they became close. This also applied to Shel who was often excluded for intellectual reasons and even more so to Vorgarag, who was now dead…
Ed and Sharog both made their way over to the garden where he taught her how to craft Alivio healing potions.
"Here is an array I made for the purpose of growing the herb" Ed showed her the arrays he made which included the orc blood fruit one and the one for herbs and flowers. Sharog took everything in quite easily and it certainly helped that Alivio Potions were nothing more than tea.
"I'll leave you to it then" Ed said suddenly while he supervised Sharog's potion brewing.
"Where are you going?" Sharog asked in return still stirring the pot.
"I'm just going into the house, don't let anyone disturb me for now" Ed replied making Sharog shoot him a questioning glance. Ed ignored this gaze and simply retreated into the house not forgetting to close the shabby door behind him.
[Champion has met the conditions to level up, do you want to be recalled? Y/N]
The level up message then appeared anew and Ed replied with a succinct nod.
[...]
But all he received was three dots from the system making him form many question marks.
'Where is my level up???' Ed asked the system in disbelief, why wasn't he being recalled? As soon as he asked himself that he remembered that the dungeon was the one that did the recalling.
'Well this isn't good…' If the dungeon knew that Ed wanted to level up and was not recalling him that only meant he would no longer receive any help from it in that department.
"A A A A A A A A A A !!!" Making an inexplicable sound Ed scratched his head madly in frustration. He understood why it was acting like this but he also didn't at all!
With his plans for the evening spoiled, Ed promptly entered a different space. The system space.
The boundless white which usually welcomed him was not his first sight as Ed was already inside the temple upon entering the system.
'I now understand what I sacrificed for this' He hadn't met any downsides to his conflict with the dungeon until now, he quite frankly couldn't understand why the dungeon was even involved in the consciousness level up process.
'I'm sure you brought me here System' He hadn't learned that this was 100% the truth, but the odds were heavily skewed in favor of this answer.
'Surely you have another method, right?' Since it could bring him there and it prepared the status window and the levels of skills etc, the system had to be an expert in the field. So for what exactly did it need the dungeon? What did it have that made it important for a level up?
Ed couldn't understand what it had but he did understand that he didn't have it, but he had to have it.
'System, where else can you invest the human souls?' As he had previously stated the system had to be responsible for leveling up skills and in part his own person.
[Acquiring all current upgrades costs 10 human souls, offer Y/N?]
[System Link upgrade costs 10 human souls, offer Y/N?]
'What the hell are those prices?!?!' Ed screamed inwardly wanting to spit out blood. Unfortunately, he was incorporeal at the moment. Though maybe that was actually a good thing... He was afraid he would burst a nerve otherwise....
