The fort featured a very sturdy wall and various locations from which the skeletons could fall upon the ones below. Luckily he had also managed to find some smarter skeletons who he could assign certain tasks to.
Using his level two transmission skill, he would instruct them to throw, if possible, or roll balls of reinforced earth which he had created down onto the enemies.
All of this sounded nice but it all depended on whether or not the fort could even hold. He didn't know how effective any of these things would be since the last time he faced adventurers he was simply steamrolled.
Nonetheless, he still hoped this would make for a good enough resistance. Who knew? If things went well maybe the dungeon would even give him a reward.
Or at least he wanted that to be the case since the stingy dungeon didn't give him any messages. It now felt as though the dungeon held a more uncaring attitude towards him. It was either that or it simply didn't want him to become much stronger.
But now wasn't the time to consider these things, it was time for battle. His nonexistent expression turned serious as he prepared himself to transmit words of warning using his transmission skill.
'Pleas- I mean, you shall not pass' Ed was used to being polite so he nearly asked them to kindly go back.
Luckily his alternative words were much more intimidating and his imposing skeletal figure which shined from atop the strong fortress wall created a tinge of fear and doubt on the adventurers' mind.
It was just a tinge however and as experienced individuals, they would not fall back due to such a paltry feeling.
The stunned adventurers quickly recovered from their stupor following Ed's transmission. Samuel in particular became especially serious as he heard the skeleton's words resound in his head.
The last time he faced it, the irregular skeleton wasn't able to tell things to others. At the very least it hadn't done so. Not only that, but it even managed to manipulate the earth to create such a strong fortification. If it wasn't for their overwhelming combat prowess they would certainly suffer losses.
It became clear to Samuel that this wasn't at the level of a respawning monster anymore. The monster had human-like intelligence and was able to learn from each encounter even if it was killed. This couldn't even be found in high tiered dungeons with the exception of some which housed peculiar boss monsters.
But this wasn't a boss monster it was a mob! One of the many, part of the mass, a member of the crowd, a being in a mob!
It wasn't fair to call it as such anymore, it was now like some sort of mini-boss.
Fear then crept up into Samuel's heart as he came to a shocking revelation.
If they don't succeed this time it will only get harder! Who knew if the next time they approached they would face an organized army of skeletons!? They couldn't delay this anymore, the threat was real!
At all costs, this dungeon needs to go down! His family wouldn't be safe if he let such a thing get to the outside world, nobody would!
Resolve. He thought he had it before but now he truly understood that he had been lacking.
I can't let it off after the things it had done? Half-assed!
As he thought back on the interaction with Miller he realized WHAT it was his resolve was lacking.
Danger, he never felt a real sense of danger. Not once!
The lich? Troublesome. This dungeon? A matter of time. With a well-organized party, he could do it.
But there was now a time limit. There was a sense of urgency. Samuel couldn't dilly dally. So he didn't.
"Magicians! Break down that wall! Warriors, defend them! Clarys, I am sure you know what to do. Drake, with me." Samuel spat out multiple orders before quickly unsheathing his sword.
Felix who was next to Drake was confused. Where were his orders? He obviously didn't want to form part of the warrior's group. How was he supposed to repay that skeleton atop the wall back for his humiliation if he stayed behind? He couldn't plain and simple.
Maybe it was arrogance that clouded his vision but Felix ignored an important point. That Ed could respawn. He had infinite chances for revenge so long as the dungeon itself wasn't exterminated. He just failed to notice it, plain and simple.
One moment of carelessness could lead to a lifetime's regret but it was yet to be seen if he would be granted that lifetime.
As Drake clenched his fist in anticipation, Felix unsheathed his blade ready to follow after him.
Ed who was atop the wall naturally heard Samuel's orders. He knew he had to get rid of those magicians. But there was just one problem with that…
Samuel's body was clad in a faint green light, his speed was far greater than many had expected. It took him less than five seconds to reach the fortress wall which he tried to scale with his momentum.
Not wanting to be left behind, Drake reinforced his legs bursting forth with great speed. His sudden burst couldn't be called any slower than Samuel's. Felix's face twitched after seeing that he wouldn't even get a chance to act. Who knew that the difference between the A-class and B-class was so great? He reinforced his body and ran after them ignoring the yells of some of the hired B-class adventurers.
His speed was incomparable, to the point that it was funny.
Skeleton's then rained down from the fortress wall under Ed's hurried orders.
[Transmission has leveled up]
He would order the smarter of the bunch to try and throw the rocks he had prepared but unfortunately, the adventurers were too far and out of range.
Ed hadn't expected them to take a defensive approach which was obviously an oversight. Thinking back, Ed had only faced archers and warriors. And after that, magic swordsmen.
The first magician he encountered finished him too quickly and during his second encounter with a magician, he had killed them too quickly. He never got to face the true capabilities of a magician.
The orcs also fought almost exclusively in close quarters so Ed was out of his comfort zone.
Samuel easily climbed the rest of the tall wall and slashed apart many of the weak skeletons that were ready to drop.
Ed then also felt a large impact on the wall. Drake had somehow managed to punch right through it creating a short tunnel.
Originally Ed would reinforce and reconstruct the wall if it were damaged but if he didn't stop Samuel now he would have bigger issues than a broken wall.
As the small fry possessed little to no problem for him, Samuel released a powerful jet of wind which blew apart the skeletons opening a path directly towards Ed.
Having given up on the wall, Ed learned a thing or two from Duma and grabbed a couple of the custom made earth balls which he adeptly threw towards the approaching Samuel.
It didn't look like much from a distance but Ed had reinforced those balls of dirt with mana and after being launched by his adept hands they held strong stopping power.
A single ball of earth cut through the air towards the running Samuel. As he had a clear sight on the thrown earth he easily dodged it but…
A flurry of rocks started to bombard his direction making him wonder if there was really only one Ed. This was because Ed managed to do something he wouldn't be usually capable of. It was akin to parallel thought as he controlled earthly hands to launch projectiles with explosive force towards the approaching Samuel.
[<Thought Manifestation> is in effect]
[Thought Manifestation has leveled up]
It was a similar feeling to when he first dual-casted as an orc. The thought manifestation seemed to make the impossible possible.
But it also seemed to have a sharp level curve as the first time he used it he could barely make it hit a target. The next instance was casting two spells at a time. Now however, he was using his mana manipulation to finely control the earth while at the same time throwing things himself.
The mana expenditure was continuous but fairly small as it wasn't an actual spell but rather an extremely intricate and fine application of manipulating mana.
Samuel as an A-class adventurer was visibly agitated after discovering the origins of the barrage. Not even he could perform a similar action!
His expression turned ugly as he was forced to kill the projectile barrage mid-flight by releasing a large wave that swept apart many of the skeletons. The skeleton's weren't enough for it however as the wave continued to head towards the nearby Ed who quickly sunk the fortress wall to divert the water.
But Samuel wasn't alone, a sharp and flaming fist darted towards Ed's head…!