The aftermath of the ambush on the humans was many casualties. Fortunately, a good chunk of the casualties were from the outsiders brought in by Dakgu. They all had armor since Ed was a walking warehouse meaning they at least acted as tough cannon fodder.
This tough cannon fodder was still annihilated, however. All the orcs Dakgu acquired from his ventures died on this trip and even some of their own died as well. They had lost approximately 40 orcs.
Luckily, Ed didn't also call Gurln over. Otherwise, they might have lost some of them too. Not that Ed had the ability to call him anyway, he didn't give Gurln a mark after all.
Once Dakgu and Ed reunited with Gurln, he was very happy to see the devastated war torn group of Dakgu. How could he have a net loss of nearly 10 orcs?! The orcs of Sanctuary weren't pushovers. Dakgu had to have met a tough opponent.
Nevertheless, it was laughable to lose with the armor provided by Ed and the skills he invested into a select few. Gurln had wanted to laugh but as it turned out, Dakgu and Ed had done performed an attack on the humans without him!
Gurln was left aghast by the news but he nevertheless reigned in his behavior when in front of Ed. There would be many opportunities to gain Ed's attention. He gave Sanctuary an additional 44 orcs after all.
Receiving all there was to receive, Ed led the orcs back to Sanctuary. There he was greeted by a large welcoming crowd.
"""WOOOOO!!!!""" "HEY ED!!" ""ED!!!"" "That's how you do it!" "I can help get you a successor!" "You should have taken me with you!"
After the Sanctuary gates parted open, all sorts of cries and shouts continued to enter the ears of Ed and the other orcs. A lot of the praise was directed towards Ed which made many of the participating orcs jealous but they still carried brutish smiles.
Willfully ignoring the outsider casualties, the Sanctuary orcs felt as though they lost nothing.
Amidst the noise, Sharog approached Ed and gave him a wry smile. That was because Ed was looking at her as though she had done something wrong.
"Did you arrange this?" Ed loudly whispered. Sharog nodded and Ed replied with a smile of his own.
"It is… It's too much, but thank you" Ed was never expecting such a grand welcome. He was certainly touched. Thinking back, this was likely one of the first genuine celebrations he has had.
'Anniversaries, holidays…' To Ed, things like this never felt genuine. Simply put, it was a predetermined date to act nice or give gifts. It didn't come from the heart. This came from the heart.
The celebration seemed to turn into a parade where everyone slowly dispersed as they continued further into the settlement.
Only once they entered the settlement's center did the mobile party truly stop. Even Sharog had to bid farewell thanks to the load of people Ed brought with the help of Gurln.
'Free at last' Ed thought before walking into the smithy where Shel could be seen hard at work.
'I should probably improve this place a bit…' Ed thought remembering that the smithy was supposed to be renovated after getting the basics in.
'I guess this is the fate of governmental institutions' Ed's hands got to work almost instantly causing the orcs in the smithy to become surprised.
He started to make more tables out of the earth and even made a larger forge. Not just that, the forge which was at the center had a shell grow around it.
'I can get rid of the smaller forge inside the shell once they are done' Ed was satisfied with just this.
"Ed- Ed, what's going on?" Shel turned and asked surprised. Ed remembered that the smithy existed? He often visited but never remembered to expand on it!
"Hm? Oh, nothing." There was no real occasion. But that wasn't to say he wasn't there without a purpose.
The previous battle told him he needed to be even faster and have greater attributes but... As of late, his attributes were starting to stagnate.
But he had a plan, and thus came close to one of the new impromptu forges he made. After making the necessary additions and adjustments, Ed could get started.
'Status' But not before checking his status. Ed's body was a temple and it needed constant checks and balancing.
[Name: Edw#&!]
Type: Orc
Health: 1345/1900 (!)
Mana: 289/301
Vitality: 15 (!)
Strength: 12 (!)
Agility: 10 (!)
Constitution: 17
Dexterity: 12 (!)
~Skills~
[Transmission lvl. 8] -Show-
[Fortified Mind lvl. 0] -Show-
[Assessment lvl. 3] -Show-
[Assimilation lvl. 7] -Show-
[Thought Manifestation lvl. 3] -Show-
[Language lvl. 1] -Show-
[System Link lvl. 6] -Show-
[Instinct lvl. 6] -Show-
[Adept Throwing lvl. 1] -Show-
[Mana Manipulation lvl. 9] -Show-
[Axemanship lvl. 7] --Show-
[Eloquence lvl. 4] -Show-
[Craftsmanship lvl. 2] -Show-
[Body Recollection lvl. 2] -Show-
[Alchemy lvl. 3] -Show-
[Formationist lvl. 1] -Show-
[Spiritual Mark lvl. 1] -Show-
Since the last time Ed opened up his status window, he had assimilated a variety of things. This once more highlighted what he already knew to be an issue. The attribute points he was getting for them had been lowering significantly.
'It's really quite a bother' He couldn't assimilate many new things while stuck on his current floor. It wouldn't really be that large a problem if the items from adventurers weren't also growing identical.
The knights and mages for example all wore practically the same gear. Past a certain point, as long as they were the same material assimilation would not give Ed more than one or two attributes.
'I need to explore the next floor more thoroughly if I want more attributes' The problem was that he would be doing that with his mushroom body. He could do the orc body but then his mushroom body would forever remain a weakling.
'If I then have to rely on the next floor to strengthen the mushroom body…' It was a vicious cycle to say the least. There was a way to gain attributes through hard work and training but… Ed wasn't sure if assimilating things reset whatever allowed for that or what. He hadn't naturally gained attributes in forever.
'There is a correlation' His assimilation cooldown was significant less than before.
'Well, I can't test this' Testing it required him to not assimilate anything for an unknown amount of time. Since that option was out of reach, the only other option was to make his own equipment.
'The same materials will make it yield less but with enough mixing it'll work' The system forge could help him put anything together.
"You are making something?" Shel asked with sparkling eyes. They seemed to sparkle with greed for knowledge. Ed had never demonstrated his forging skills.
"Yes, I'll be making some weapons" Apart from the fact that the orcs needed weapons, Ed could use the strength they often brought with them. Agility from things like daggers was also handy.
'Getting dexterity will be a bit tough though... ' He had assimilated most of the fibers in various shapes and forms he could get and dexterity was starting to become hard to raise further.
He could try making metal strands but that was easier said than done. It wasn't something that one could make with just their hands. Ed had to focus on what he both needed and could easily do as a result.
"Everyone, let's watch!" Shel shouted and then grinned. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity! She couldn't let it go to waste. As Ed had put her in charge of the place, everyone improving and learning from him was key.
"Ed is smithing?" Someone asked from outside the smithy.
"Uggug? You are here late" Another orc commented from the side.
Ed working was big news for everyone in the settlement. There had been rumors and murmuring that said Ed was a daring orc that liked to try every hobby he found. Unfortunately, he was a genius and mastered the hobbies within moments. Burdened by success, Ed would find it too boring to continue practicing it.
Other rumors were more negative in nature. Ed was a lazy orc, Ed was a horrible person that dumped work onto others, and other things of that nature. The origins of these rumors was unknown but supposedly they were heard from exhausted murmurings at night.
Unaware of his spreading reputation, Ed focused on his craft. He brought out an item from his storeroom and white sparks then appeared on that very hand.
"What- What did he do?!" An onlooker exclaimed amazed. Ed had just summoned and item out of thin air as well as a flame!
The magic metal was slowly melted into a cast under the watchful eyes of the orcs. They were afraid to lose any moment but as Ed continued his personal smithing process they couldn't help but scratch their heads.
"He is inorcish" An orc said watching the final result being formed by Ed. It was a short axe with a magical blue metal as the base. There were also runes inscribed into it that functioned to enchant it.
[Craftsmanship has leveled up]
[Formationist has leveled up]
'Hm?' Ed received two level ups surprisingly enough.
[Unnamed Caerulite War Axe]
{ A magical axe made by the orc Ed, it is the first of its kind. It has yet to receive a name though inscribed with runes. }
"What a beautiful axe" Some other orc commented while nodding their head. It was a pretty nice weapon. As soon as this thought entered the orcs mind, he froze.
The other orcs had similar epiphanies and all looked at one another. A weapon made by Ed! A beautiful one at that!
[Strength +1]
[Constitution +1]
The axe started to disappear and Ed felt his strength increase anew. He was now more than 10 times stronger than when he first entered this body but he was not twice as strong as he was before assimilating this.
"Sigh…" Ed couldn't help but sigh feeling disappointed.
The orc who watched this however couldn't hide their shock and surprise. It was however replaced by even bigger disappointment.
""""Sigh….."""" They all sighed in unison. Were they undeserving?