Ed approached one of the torches outside the temple of Ed for the moment.
The flame flickered languidly and glowed dimly. It appeared to be dying yet it continued to cling onto life. This was the death element.
'I think there is something to be learned from these torches' Though always present and lighting up their surroundings, these torches were dead inside.
'Eh, that doesn't sound like the lesson…' The real lesson these torches taught was about the dungeon. How were these things always on? The dungeon kept them lit using mana.
'The undead aspect of death mana coupled with the volatile fire mana' The dungeon was at all times expending mana and just wasting energy as a whole. This meant that the necessary upkeep could not be small.
That begged the question of why the dungeon continue to do something so inane. Ed could only come up with two reasons.
The first was for the mobs. The orcs for example could not live in the crypt without dying. They needed a day and night cycle as well as sources of food. Funnily enough, the food had gone extinct thanks to the dungeon.
'I guess I can rule out that possibility' Ed thought as he began to use the materialize skill on a torch flame.
The second possibility was that it copied what it knew. The familiar. Because, what was familiar for a dungeon? Where did a dungeon learn the concept of a table, a desk, a chair, a sword, where did it learn these things?
The monster encyclopedia told him that it wasn't from the system.
'Unless every dungeon gets their own system' It was a scary notion but it wasn't entirely implausible either.
Back to the topic at hand, if a dungeon was formed in an area that had similar characteristics to what it contained then everything made sense. Based on what he learned from Bob, Ed knew this was a cave.
Was it a coincidence that the first floor was an undead dungeon? Ed didn't think so. The place must have been some small hideout of sorts that contained these furnishings. After a long time, these furnishing would become dusty and rot and create a haunted atmosphere. Maybe that was when the dungeon started mimicking it too.
If one were to follow this train of thought, the different floors could be explained as well. The most likely scenario was that the dungeon only acquired these bizarre extra floors after coming in contact with the system.
If it relied on what it knew and replicated it, knowing about plains and swamps could open up the possibility.
'There are some big ifs here though' There was much to learn as it could even be a mix of both of the reasons he listed. Whatever the case, Ed only wanted to assimilate the crystal he was making.
[Materialized Death]
{Death forcibly materialized by arcane powers. It glows an abyssal black and gives off the eerie sensation of death.}
The last time Ed had materialized the torch into being rather than make a crystal. This time he just wanted something to assimilate however so this worked much better.
He believed he would get a crystal but the materialized death simply seemed like a very smooth crystal.
[Assimilation is on cooldown]
[Mana +21]
[Requiem has leveled up]
After assimilating the materialized death, Ed was able to realize how it differed.
'Requiem must have a lot to do with my own affinity to death' The death element was ingrained in the bones of the undead. This was a fact he had learned early on in his journey.
The question then became how to take it a step further.
'Death is the answer' The more he saw death, the more he sowed death, the more the element would improve. There was a substantial difference between someone who had killed and someone who had not.
There was an even bigger difference between someone who killed once and someone who killed one hundred times. This was a difference that the skeletons near Ed could feel better now more than ever.
'I've seen hundreds being killed by my actions by now…' It wasn't something to be proud of but unfortunately, his consciousness level was always a grim reminder.
Once Ed finished settling his thoughts, he finally noticed the fervent stares of the skeletons. Or at least that's what they appeared to be.
Not that Ed was able to verify it, the skeletons would avert their eye sockets from his own when they met. They would also shake vigorously perhaps frightened to their core. Which was a good thing for the undead Ed supposed.
With things settled for good in the crypt, Ed walked over to a few key figures and left a spiritual mark on them. Trench was one of the key ones.
[Spiritual mark has leveled up]
He then returned to his throne to formally request to leave.
But before he had such an opportunity, Zephyr who he had admittedly forgotten about arrived. The skeleton seemed flustered as it informed Ed of all the things it discovered.
It was a pity since to Ed, it hadn't discovered much.
'Hmm…' With Survivor's information Ed already knew that the other humans had fled with a cart. The only valuable thing Zephyr had provided was the confirmation that they had escaped to the next floor.
But it wasn't like he was expecting them to set up camp in the boss room or something.
'You did well' Ed praised Zephyr all the same and said a couple of things before sending it off. The temple was currently empty. Ed's presence always caused the skeletons to work extra hard.
Ed wanted to talk to the dungeon but...
[Recalling Champion's Soul]
It was time to go.
With the confirmation Zephyr brought, Ed knew the dungeon would call for him and was therefore clear-minded when it did. His thoughts were not interrupted as he harbored none.
Once he appeared in the void, however, things were different. Ed's mind went into overdrive expecting trouble to be knocking on his door as soon as he respawned.
***
The small camp the humans were settling was named Aspiration. The name of the base was decided from their hope to save themselves. They were afraid for both their lives and their future and were forced into this limbo.
With the situation taking a turn for the worse and the camp starting to eat grass from the newly captured settlement, the human leaders had to come to a decision. After much discussion however there was no resolution.
Many of the leaders had already died so there weren't even that many people. Why were the opinions so divided then? It made no sense.
"We can't fight another battle!" A resolute voice shouted. This was Tarin vehemently opposing another battle against orcs.
"It was just an unlucky event, we should be capitalizing the respawn period!" It was the only time they could attack without fear of dying. The words of Bede were not without reason.
Stuart who had practically taken the role of leader after becoming the man of logistics couldn't help but sigh.
"We won't do anything" Stuart said feeling conflicted.
"What!?" Bede exclaimed not expecting Stuart to give into Tarin so easily after hours of pointless back and forth.
The main reason they couldn't start a battle was the hunger of the knights and mages. Having them attack any settlement would mean expending food and drink at a much faster rate which they couldn't afford.
Bede believed the orcs would have food but there was no guarantee. It was a gamble and one that Stuart was not willing to make. Bede might be a genius gamer of all games including gambling apparently, but that hardly counted as certification to lead and strategy.
The trio never really reached a consensus on the matter even after carrying on well into midnight. So Bede was not all that bitter about Stuart's call on the topic. He didn't have the energy to continue.
They were preparing to leave on empty stomachs when they heard some people approaching.
"Stuart Sir, the resources from outside have arrived!" The person at the front declared enthusiastically. Stuart who was exhausted from lack of sleep suddenly brightened up. This was good news!
The three of them rushed towards the gate of the camp. The walls had been raised and fortified to a degree no lesser than that of the orc settlements in the vicinity. Getting in with a cart, therefore, became a more winding process.
"Hah! You guys made it!" Stuart exclaimed with grateful surprise.
"Yeah, we did…" The one at the front was Eyad the support magician. He felt awkward as he answered.
"Hm? Where is Kiano? And the other person, there were five of you" After Stuart asked this question, the three adventurers who had been unloading things out of view came into the picture.
"Eh? Who are they?" They appeared to be adventurers but there should have been little to no reason to bring any in there.
"Hello Sir, I am Agalia. I am the leader of this party of three" Agalia as the leader stepped up and answered this subconscious question of the man. Stuart quickly reeled in his surprise and took on a more formal expression.
"Hello Agalia, it's a pleasure" Stuart said before shooting a glance at Eyad and the other two. There was plenty of explaining to be done.. Stuart was just afraid that he wouldn't be able to hear it in his exhausted state.