But after thinking about it a bit more, Dakgu realized that Ed's decision was not all that strange. The infiltration of Romarod's tribe had gone really smoothly.
The goblins that were guarding the settlement could see better in the night than most orcs but even they failed to see Ed's silent attacks coming. They saw neither the blades of wind nor Ed himself as he personally took care of them with his axe.
Even though the orcs were awake, the goblins' speedy removal allowed Sanctuary to instantly enter the settlement without alerting a soul and get many easy kills. Didn't this mean they could steamroll the rest in the vicinity?
Dakgu instantly became aware of his shortsightedness and Ed had secretly gained some more respect points in his heart. Although Ed hadn't taught him formally, he could still learn so much from him. It was funny how he kept learning this time and time again.
"Let's get the Bloodrain tribe" Dakgu said with some conviction. He didn't know all that much about this tribe since he hadn't heard much about it from Durgash. Nevertheless, most of the tribes in the vicinity would not stand a chance against them.
Not only that, but the little he did hear mentioned how the Bloodrain managed to live by eating weeds in their settlement's vicinity. Since Durgash had stolen from there, Dakgu knew the weeds didn't taste like much but they could help one get through tough times.
A tribe that could survive on weeds was not weak as some might think. Rather, because they weren't facing constant starvation they could avoid fights. This meant their numbers wouldn't dwindle and fluctuate as much as in other tribes. Not being starving also helped them win any battles they did fight.
Dakgu didn't think to fight them before but after seeing how great the armor made by Ed was... he had to reassess his previous thoughts.
"Bloodrain it is then" Ed said with a smile. Even after capturing Romarod's tribe, they had only gained about 20 orcs which was less than half the number of the tribe. The orcs had gone a bit too wild so now they had to conquer other places.
'I wonder for how long I'll be able to help though…' The dungeon had summoned him here, but he had yet to find out why. If the situation shifted again wouldn't he be brought back to the skeleton or mushroom body?
He had to try and get as much as possible done.
***
The temperature in the dungeon was almost always a constant warm, it made the morning breeze all the more soothing and refreshing. The pleasant condition was however not accompanied by the sound of chirping birds, it was by the sound of construction.
The work was going smoothly. All the essential knights and mages were kept on site to help build the bases so this was expected.
That meant that the likes of Tarin were kept on site creating a foundation. Earth magicians were capable of that much since architecture was a popular elective for earth mages in some academies.
Tarin however was also in charge of managing these unofficial architects, and that was no easy task.
"Stuart, when do you think the supplies will get here? The workers will start to complain at this rate..." Tarin asked Stuart who was in charge of logistics. This meant that Stuart had to keep track of materials, manpower, and of course food.
"Sigh… Without Balin, we didn't really pack much food" Stuart answered back. Though even if they had packed much food, a large chunk of it would have been lost in the collapsed cavern. This was a serious problem.
They had taken up hunting down orc settlements in search of food but most of them had little to none. This ultimately meant that they could eat the orcs and goblins they found, or wait for their food to dwindle and finally starve.
Of course, the hunting hadn't been very thorough, it was highly doubtful that they'd seen all this dungeon floor had to offer. To combat that they sent a squad with more ample search time but Kiano's arrival was still the best they could hope for.
"I think… I think that Kiano will get here soon if nothing went wrong" Kiano was a very stubborn. If he were a dish, the main course would be made of arrogance with a side of stubbornness sprinkled with some shreds of humility.
What all this meant was that he if he said he would do something he would get it done. How could he afford to lose reputation amongst his peers? Plus, wouldn't that be akin to admitting he failed to meet his own standards?
Kiano was the type to obsess over things especially strength. He used to be quite stuck up until he suffered a humiliating defeat. That was also where the humility came in. After being beaten by someone he thought weaker than himself Kiano didn't dare openly exhibit his true personality.
But this also spurred him to work harder and harder lifting what he expected of himself with each leap in strength.
Overall, Kiano would always meet at least the bare minimum expectations of himself.
"What if something did go wrong?" Tarin asked Stuart knowing quite well the answer.
"We might be screwed…" Stuart said wryly. If Kiano and his small party had been eliminated while exiting or returning then they'd have to send another party. But the ones with the highest chance of survival were sent out…
The final option was to abandon the operation and retreat as a large group but while they'd keep their lives, they would lose their livelihood. The prince did not seem like the reasonable type and they could never secure the king.
It was precisely at that moment when the hunting and gathering squad arrived. They entered through the gates of the crude base. Some were glancing around at the unfinished buildings while the ones at the front were searching for someone.
"Stuart!" The scout placed in charge of the team shouted before promptly heading over. The other members of the impromptu squad also came over hearing this.
They had set off two days ago in search of food. With a wide smile, Roi one of the few magic scouts left came over.
"We found some demon boars" Roi said pointing towards the back of the small crowd. There were some knights holding the rein on some boars. Thanks to the way they were tied this was an easy job, moving them along was the real problem.
"It's quite fortunate that these demon boars spawn here" Tarin commented watching the knights push the boars further into the base.
"I'll have to settle this now sigh…" Stuart told Tarin essentially dismissing him. It was fortunate that these boars existed but that also meant they needed to plan out where they'd go.
"Ac- Actually! Stuart, there is something else we found!" Roi said stopping Stuart from leaving.
Roi called over Explorer, an avid reader and experienced assassin, who had hold of a book. This one was one on herbology.
"We found an area with many of these edible weeds deep in the forest, we even grabbed a couple" Roi spoke while pointing and flipping through the pages of the book to demonstrate.
"The only problem is that there seems to be a sizeable orc tribe there" The knights who were sent out could have eliminated the orcs with their prowess but they would no doubt suffer a handful of casualties. Roi was unwilling to call the shots for such a risky operation.
Stuart looked at Tarin who shrugged his shoulders.
"If these things really are edible… We should try to get a hold of them" The orc tribe was also too close to be left alone. The scouts had only been out for two days yet they managed to encounter them. With breaks and the cost of returning, the settlement couldn't actually be all that far. A couple of hours at most.
"That's what I thought too…" Roi said meekly while Explorer watched on unfazed. He was just waiting for them to return his book.
Under the sound of ongoing construction in the background, the trio continued to think quietly. It was only moments later that Stuart decided on the best timing.
"We can't eat what we have on us so let's stave off hunger with the weeds. Gather all the knights, including half the ones chopping wood, and go take care of the settlement" Stuart said still pensively.
He felt this was the most logical conclusion he could reach given the intelligence provided. The mages were still preoccupied creating the settlement as well as being his subordinates in helping manage logistics.
While knights weren't dumb, mages were born with books in hands. Learning spells often involved learning other helpful things along the way and just garnering more wisdom than the average person
In contrast, the knights were less likely to have spent much time reading and learning. Most of their time would be allotted to increasing affinity with their weapons or just honing their bodies.
"Ok, let's go with that" Roi answered flippantly. Since he was too scared to call any shots, he was satisfied with this alone.
"You are not fit to lead them however… We will also need some contingency plans" While the appearance of the big bad boss wasn't guaranteed, it couldn't be ruled out. For some reason, this enemy seemed to appear randomly.
It was like a boss that may or may not appear but once it did and was defeated it would provide great loot. Not to mention that its crazy strength almost always required more than one person to be able to take it down.
"Like a raid… A raid boss" Stuart muttered to himself causing both Tarin and Roi to sport confused looks.