Bob was questioning his life choices when suddenly, he heard footsteps. The strength behind them left Bob depressed as he remembered the existence that put him into this uncomfortable situation.
Why couldn't the orc just kill him? Bob could not give up his life willingly. Bob was such a person.
'How are you?' During Ed's absence, Sharog took personal responsibility for the man. Well, as much as she could.
She only fed him once or twice a day and the time interval between each feeding could be a couple of hours or practically a whole day. The unrest of the tribe had made it difficult for Sharog to care for the human without exposing herself.
If that happened… Ed would be lucky to find her alive. Keeping that human for him was a significant risk and Ed was quite grateful towards her for this reason. In his mind, the death of Bob would have mattered little.
Still, a healthy Bob equals a healthy mind so went the saying.
"I- I'm fan- fantastic!" Bob said while stuttering responding to Ed's greeting. He was feeling the worst he had ever felt at that moment but only a fool would dare say that while in front of this orc overlord.
'That's good, want some alcohol?' Ed asked out of the blue.
Bob's thoughts slowed to a crawl, this was becoming a very common state of mind for the poor knight.
"Y- Yeah!" Bob replied after some deliberation. No matter how he thought about it, drinking some alcohol was not a bad idea!
Hearing the expected reply, Ed smiled and approached the corner of the alchemy hut. The bound human gulped nervously but the now-familiar fragrance of orc blood fruit wafted into his nostrils.
There was however an additional bitterness laced on top of this smell that caused Bob to feel some anticipation. This had to be some good alcohol!
'Drink' Ed said as he grabbed the man's chin and poured the drink down his throat. The man was hurt by this action but the bittersweet orc blood fruit wine soothed the pain.
"Aaah~" Bob exclaimed satisfied by the brew. The wine hadn't aged much if at all but it didn't serve as any deterrent to his taste buds.
[Spiritual Mark failed]
'Hm…' Ed was planning on getting the man a little drunk to perform some experiments with the mark. If all went well, he would be able to watch what was happening outside the dungeon.
'Too bad, but I can't give up yet' The skill worked on both Sharog and Shel whose consciousnesses he never once held so he was convinced it could work on the human Bob.
After a couple of more drinks, Bob was wasted and passed out. The orc blood wine was surprisingly strong.
[Spiritual Mark: Bob Burgesr]
'Looks like his mind was just too healthy' A couple of drinks and Bob's mental barriers were broken through without a hitch. Such were the horrors of alcohol.
Now, all Ed needed to do was perform some experiments and he could have some eyes on the outside.
'I should also give Bob a fright' While letting Bob not know anything was a viable strategy, Ed would for sure suffer if he retired to some countryside or went out to live as a hermit.
Only if he instilled fear into the knight would he follow his transmissions and persist inside the dungeon. At the bare minimum Bob would keep up with things going on outside the dungeon for him. There was the issue of how Bob would relay any of this but that would be figured out soon enough.
'Sharog, come inside' Ed transmitted to Sharog as a test. After she sent him to the garden where she brewed the wine, Ed kindly asked her to take her leave.
After a couple of minutes, Sharog reached Ed who was waiting for her outside the crappy shack
"What- How-" Sharog had not expected that at all. The time it took her to get to Ed allowed her to maintain some semblance of sanity but after actually coming face to face with Ed, she had no idea what to ask him first.
"It's one of the gains from this disappearance" Ed told Sharog. It could have been a matter of time until the dungeon caved in and gave him his level up so Ed didn't know if this was true. What he did know however was that it was a helpful excuse to have her glance over the matter.
"Umm… Ok… So… what did you need?" Sharog was still awestruck but she did manage to move past it.
"What did I need…" Ed muttered realizing that he had called her there for nothing.
"Right, tell Dakgu to gather everyone up. I'm going to have to teach them a thing or two about safety" As Dakgu had been present when Sharog explained her details, he obviously pitched in with his attempt to help the situation.
The real re-population plan they had formed was to attack some tribes and unite them. Wearing armor was a big part of minimizing losses.
"I understand, but why did I have to come here then…?" Ed could have just told her this much, no?
"That's because I wanted to thank you!" Ed said coming up with something out of the blue.
[Magic's Staff of Wind]
{ A staff of wind mass-produced by the Magics organization. Small boost to wind speed and cast speed }
The staff was an upper C-class magic weapon Ed had found while sorting his inventory. The shelving skill then helped him keep track of it and now he was materializing the staff for Sharog on impulse.
"This is…? A staff?" Sharog was amazed by Ed's action of creating something out of nothingness but she ended up focusing on the staff. Although it was mass-produced, the staff was still quite exquisite. Of course, Sharog couldn't really make such a distinction.
The staff was made of rich brown wood with exquisite carvings. The carvings seemed to imitate the movement of the wind with each seam. Gripping the magic weapon and coursing some mana caused these carvings to light up a green color.
'That seems flashy' Some staffs had the capability to store mana in runic carvings or just seams but that was obviously not the case here. Otherwise, the assessment might have mentioned something along the lines.
But Ed decided not to say anything. It wasn't like he could complain to the previous owner for getting scammed.
With a new staff in hand, Sharog ran right back to inform Dakgu and perhaps even assist him.
'The others orcs have no idea I'm up and about' Some orcs did see him so rumors might have spread but to the skeptical he was as good as dead.
Ed decided to kill some time and brought out a variety of mushrooms from his storeroom. The main one was the blood mushrooms which were supposed to replace Blurak's blood.
'This stingy dungeon should give me a new boss already' The first and second floor couldn't be left undefended even if he was in the area. The humans could employ lots of different strategies that would turn things troublesome
'They could start setting camps' The idea might seem a bit farfetched but if orcs and goblins could live there, so could humans. What they would eat in this environment where animals seldom appear was an issue for them to resolve, however.
'Sidetracked' Ed tossed a couple of blood mushrooms into the pot. Ed stirred them in boiling water before tossing in some Alivio herbs and even a pinch of ground serenity buds.
The final result was not a disappointment.
[Healing medley]
{ A medley of soothing ingredients capable of healing external injuries and soothing internal ones }
'The effects are not as good as the potent healing potion but these still work quite well' The ability to mass-produce them was greater than the potent ones now too. Ed could turn these medleys into a staple item of Sanctuary.
Of course, that he could didn't mean he would. There were other cool combination of ingredients that Ed could try.
After some more trial and error, the final results were as followed.
[Metal Supplement]
[Enhanced Sight Potion]
[Endurance Potion]
'The things in the next floor are quite handy' The potions were made with the variety of shrooms he harvested as well as the monster parts from the waves.
Just as Ed finished looking at his new recipes, Dakgu ran over.
"Ed. They are ready" Dakgu said just as Ed was wondering who to test these potions on. The answer was not Dakgu but rather the stubborn orcs.
'If they can't defeat me after taking these potions, either I failed or they have no excuses' Ed himself could wear armor and the orcs would have no right to act any less respectfully towards him. But Ed believed that giving them a dose of their own medicine was best.
Ed and Dakgu then went back to the settlement center and as some orcs noticed their approach, they were overcome with excitement.
"Ed!" "It's really Ed!" "I can't believe it" The reactions were mixed but Ed felt they were almost all positive.
As Ed took to the center of their main plaza, he made sure to hold a solemn expression. The cold face was bound to help him earn some points.
"Hello. I will be accepting challenges from all of you. But-" Before Ed could continue his explanation some hands already shot up.
"Wow!!" "That's suicidal…" "I can't believe it, I'm saying it again!" The voices were growing louder and louder until the ground suddenly caved in slightly.
Ed who had punched down on the ground in front of the small stage then proceeded to speak.
"But you will all need some armor, I can't have you all die now can I?" The answer was obviously no but the orcs felt as if they were being looked down on.
"Even if we can't beat him, we can still show him something!" One orc said within the crowd.
Ed sneered inwardly, the orcs were such simpletons.