Ed easily caught up to Vorgarag and dismissed himself. He had to first settle the assimilation matter so he promised to catch up later.
Ed thought of what to assimilate as he made his way back to his arranged home, and in the end, he chose to prioritize his attributes. This would be a mistake if it wasn't for the imminent danger. Long term plans are only viable if you have the time.
In theory, Ed could choose to give up on the orcs and instead choose to stop the enemies at wherever the final hurdle might be but…
For one this wasn't his style. Ed preferred to improvise than to carefully plan things out. Of course, a plan could go a long way but he felt he wasn't capable of sticking to a longterm plan. He was almost guaranteed to deviate from it and at the point, it would be best to simply play it by ear
The second reason being, bonds. It was like being forced to move houses by your parents. It didn't feel good to suddenly be disconnected from your friends. You might get over it the first time, maybe even the second time. But it gets old very quickly.
Could he even remember what that felt like? No, he couldn't. That was the third reason, leveling up his consciousness.
Leveling up would allow him to remember more things as well as earn him new skills that could positively affect his chances inside of the dungeon. Without enough attack power, he could kiss any chance to level up goodbye. This was also why he would focus on attacking his enemies.
He went into his house and grabbed his battle axe. If he remembered correctly, it would yield him two extra-strength attributes as well as a constitution attribute.
He would much rather find an item that could give him both agility and strength but he couldn't think of any that he might have access to at the moment. Thus, without any regrets, Ed assimilated the axe.
[Assimilation on cooldown]
[Strength +3]
[Constitution +1]
'Well, this is a stroke of good luck.' Ed thought as he double-checked that he had indeed gotten an extra-strength attribute.
One of the possibilities was that the axe he carried around was more lethal than others but as it was a dungeon spawned item this was highly unlikely. It was far more probable for it to be a result of leveling up the assimilation skill.
The higher the level the better it became. The skill's ability to take in knowledge always saw direct increases with each subsequent level up so why wouldn't the same happen when absorbing attributes?
Satisfied, Ed could now set his sights on his skills. If he wanted to increase his attack power while still making the best use of his strong body, it would be best to increase his axemanship.
'The instinct skill also works well when in combat…' The only problem was that Instinct leveled up almost exclusively in combat. He couldn't remember any instance where it hadn't.
'That settles it then, I'll learn about arrays from Vorgarag and then ask to spar with him.' Ed nodded to himself, he was content with this idea.
He was also very curious about how well Vorgarag would fare against him. He never got a chance to see his true capabilities as he tended to stay in the backlines and cast spells. He should be able to stimulate his instinct skill when facing him.
Ed took a couple of minutes to ask around for Vorgarag's whereabouts as well as just to get to him. He was currently walking up a set of stairs to stand atop the settlement's walls.
There he saw Vorgarag installing what seemed to be a wood and stone cannon. It had a brown crystal inserted where a fuse would usually go. He could also see what seemed to a formation inscribed around it.
"Hey" Ed said with a wave to announce his presence. Vorgarag simply threw him a glance before continuing to fiddle with the cannon and its inscription.
"It's good that you are here. I'll teach you a bit about this particular formation and you'll help me set up more of these." Vorgarag essentially ordered. Nonetheless, as Ed had agreed to learn from him on this topic he could only acquiesce.
A couple of minutes of gathering the required cannon materials and some idle conversation later, Ed was ready to try to form one on his own.
"Alright, for now, you should just copy what I wrote on the other cannon to the best of your ability." Vorgarag said after handing Ed a brush.
Ed nodded and began to scribe the formation on his own. Vorgarag explained what exactly Ed was writing down as he did it which made it a bit hard to follow. Nonetheless, Ed managed to easily grasp it,
There was a layer responsible for taking mana from the crystal and conducting it, as well as a layer for forming a ball version of any particular element. After that, it was a mechanism using wind or fire to blast out the elemental projectile. It was a very small and simple array.
After that, Ed and Vorgarag continued to install cannons for a couple of hours. Ed taught Vorgarag the chants for Steam and meteor rain. As Vorgarag lacked the wind affinity it was all Ed could teach him.
They went over the fundamentals of the spells as well and how they might be able to use it in combat. A couple of hours later, Vorgarag learned to use the steam spell.
Unfortunately, that was all Vorgarag could possibly learn. Meteor rain was far more complicated and Vorgarag didn't have any handy skills as Ed did. It might take him at least an entire day of learning before he could create a half-successful meteor rain.
He obviously didn't have the time to devote himself to the learning while setting up cannons so the result was even more inevitable.
Currently, Ed and Vorgarag were taking a final break atop the walls. The sun had already set by this point so there wasn't much to look at other than the thick green canopy which expanded for a fair distance.
"We've managed to set up all but a couple. We can finally get some rest after that." Vorgarag said while gazing at the starry night sky.
Ed hadn't really taken the time to appreciate it until now. For some reason, he felt the stars were a rare sight. Nonetheless, they were merely apparitions. This was the inside of a dungeon after all. It couldn't possibly hold an entire universe inside of it, right?
He shook the thought away, it didn't really matter if that was true or not.
"I want to have a spar with you" Ed told Vorgarag. He already felt as though he wasted his time setting up cannons, he couldn't delay the spar for too long. Tomorrow was the latest he was willing to delay it.
Vorgarag continued to gaze off into the stars while thinking about Ed's proposition. It didn't take him long to formulate an answer.
"I don't see why not." It was his usual response. Vorgarag still said it with a smile. He hadn't tasted true combat in a while. He had been afraid of dying.
It wasn't that he was a coward. A coward wasn't capable of successfully leading a tribe, at most they could maintain the status quo. He was instead afraid of the consequences that dying brought.
His first disciple Uram had been tragically killed in combat. In the next year or so no other orc showed the potential to become a shaman. If he couldn't settle that problem then the shaman arts of the Angakok tribe wouldn't simply deteriorate, they would vanish altogether.
This was a future he could not afford to see pass. Without a competent leader, it wasn't the spells that would risk extinction, but the tribe. Consequently, Vorgarag became increasingly distant from battle.
He mainly played the role of support. Some of the orcs in the tribe criticized him for it while others simply believed that he was giving others the chance to show off.
"Great, when should we spar?" Ed asked jovially. He didn't want to delay it but that didn't mean he wanted to rush it either.
"How about now?" Vorgarag said nonchalantly.
It took Ed a second to realize he had indeed heard correctly.
"Now? Here?" Fighting atop the settlement walls didn't seem like a bright idea. Or near the settlement in general. Any serious fight using spells could lead to bad outcomes for the surroundings.
"We just need to jump down from here." Vorgarag said with a grin. Ed couldn't help but take a glimpse down the tall walls.
"Before that, we need to finish the cannon setups. Tomorrow I'll be busy instructing the orcs on how to use them so now works best." He then followed up with a sentence that poured a bit of cold water on Ed's enthusiasm.
"Well, Let's get to it then." Ed responded.. He wasn't a battle junkie but since Vorgarag already agreed it was best to finish the job quickly.