Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

Sharog retreated alongside the recently awakened orcs under Ed's gaze. Only after she went out of sight did Ed decide to immediately shift focus. 

He couldn't clean out his inventory but that couldn't stop him from experimenting with the already available bodies. Since they could die he just had to start early.

'Let's see… the ultimate goal is a golem core' Ed's mind pulsed a bit but he ignored it and continued to think of the best way to achieve this. He couldn't throw an orc into a meat grinder for example to form a cube of meat.

'I think I can start with limbs' Ed first had to prove the conjecture that only living things or things that used to be living could hold a consciousness. If an arm could not independently hold a consciousness then the conjecture would be proven false.

'If that doesn't work it might be all things resembling living things could hold a consciousness' Such a law seemed dubious though since a law of life or death wouldn't be conscious enough to determine what was and wasn't resembling a living thing. 

Of course, it was also possible that resembling a living thing referred to the way the thing functioned. Did it have a brain? Blood, veins? A way to move? A way to express itself?

Ed continued to think up more and more ideas as he made his way towards the prison. He knew of its location thanks to Sharog explaining it in her story as well as when they passed by to heal the injured.

Once there he grabbed a torch to light the way and began his picking process with a brief scan. Just because he hadn't injured the enemy orcs it didn't mean nobody else had. It was also possible that they possessed underlying conditions that might have lead to deaths under the unsavory environment of a cage.

[Corpse of Nakghat]

The cold corpse of a sacred tribe orc warrior that died of head trauma.

[Yambagorn's body (Hungry)]

The lifeless body of Yambagorn, blacksmith, and warrior of the sacred tribe.

[Azuk's body (Injured)]

Several different messages appeared after the scan but Ed only looked into a few of them. It turned out that some deaths had indeed occurred. Ed wasn't sure if it was a result of his own actions or a result of the actions of the ones that threw him in the cell but Nakghat died of head trauma.

'It's fine, I can still use it' Creating a zombie was fascinating in of itself, no?

'If I can get their skeletons I can give that a whirl too' It would be interesting to create skeleton orcs and have them fight battles either for the crypt or the Sanctuary orcs.

The only downside was that creating undead orcs could end up intimidating any enemies he might make on the orc plains in the future which would inevitably result in fewer orcs to experiment on as fewer and fewer orcs would decide to challenge him.

'Well, I guess I'll send them to the crypt then' Ed had his qualms with experimenting on things that used to be alive but it wouldn't do to get sentimental after going through so many things. Even as he performed such heinous deeds he could at least comfort himself in the knowledge that he wasn't enjoying it. Just the thought of carving an orc body to extract their skeleton didn't sit well with him.

As for the other bodies… they still seemed to be living although labeled as lifeless by the system. It was illogical but without consciousness, they could only be described as lifeless.

'Thoughtless works too though…' He didn't plan on arguing with the system on how it should label certain things though. Ed decided to instead pick the first target. He swept his gaze past the many locked cells. 

Some of the surrendered orcs were also held there and noticed his glance. They all shuddered after noticing the coldness in those eyes. They were not convinced that such an orc knew compassion.

That thought also seemed to be proven as Ed opened up a cell and brought out the body of a seemingly unconscious orc. He held a torch in one hand and lugged the body on his shoulder with the other.

He then simply walked deeper into the prison where he could no longer be seen. As the torchlight became distant the surrendered orcs were enveloped in darkness. Yet for some reason, they felt more at ease.

Ed, unaware of their thoughts, dropped the body into a new cell. He didn't want the surrendered orcs to see what he would do since his ability to revive the dead or something like it should be kept as a trump card.

[Corpse of Nakghat]

'Let's first give him back his consciousness' Ed wanted to know if all zombies were unintelligent or if there was a reason behind it and using the previous consciousness seemed most fitting for such a task.

He placed his palm on the corpse's forehead and began his spirit insertion.

...or at least he should have started his spirit insertion.

[The dungeon is wary]

Ed froze before he quickly pulled back his hand with furrowed brows.

'The dungeon is wary…' It was a message from none other than the system. But it begged the question of why now?

'What did I do to alert it?' Ed's business had gone about as usual in the orc plains. Nothing had changed.

'Is it an outside factor then?' Something about the dungeon had to have changed or something influenced it.

Ed seriously pondered on the matter while trying to hide his unease. Truthfully, he never got over the dungeon's absolute power over him. As much as he liked to think cynical thoughts about the dungeon he knew that it could always get rid of him.

The sixth sense only made that reality more abundantly clear when he finally acquired it. His fears that the dungeon could easily eliminate him became a fact and he learned to question more of the things around him like the system itself.

'The system…' That brought Ed to the topic of this second entity. The system was evidently capable of individual thought even if it robotically expressed itself.

'I can trust you for now at least…' Ed grumbled inwardly. There were two reasons for this belief.

One, the dungeon had warned him. For the moment they were both guarding against the dungeon. The enemy of one's enemy was ultimately one's friend.

Secondly, the system was what gave him power. The dungeon was the one in charge of creating bodies for him, or so it would seem. Regardless, the one that gave him perks and skills was undoubtedly the system.

'Well, I guess I can't really be so sure of that, huh…' The second matter was iffy but for the moment it was nothing of too great importance. The first point was enough on its own to warrant some level of trust.

'Plus, since it lives in my mind it can read my thoughts' The system didn't try to convince him it was a good party. Nor did it decide to exact revenge on him for doubting it. That meant it didn't care.

'It could just be emotionless…' Or the system was understanding. Regardless, Ed was more inclined to trust and believe it.

'We will be in this together for now then!' Ed finally decided to start his official partnership with the system. He had taken advantage of it all along but it was worth noting that he never permitted it to make him overpowered. 

'...though I don't really know how to get rid of you either' That was a matter for future Ed, that was for sure.

***

"Count… I settled the loose ends…" Carlton, Aden Flamewood's servant, said with reluctance.

"Mind your words Carlton" Aden said in a rough voice admonishing Carlton's lack of finesse when referring to him.

"Y- Yes Sir Flamewood!" Carlton quickly corrected himself. His previous tone was a result of his confusion. As for the count's tone… It was his son.

The count was currently inside the best hotel the town had to offer simply observing the rain outside.

His obscured vision didn't prevent him from seeing the large swaths of people coming and going down the street and even those going in and out of the hotel in a bid to find lodging.

This was his doing. This was his revenge.

"Sir…?" Carlton who had not left the room said with concern. While his loyalty didn't lay with the Flamewood estate, he couldn't help but feel concerned for the count who was clearly in an unstable state.

But there was silence in the room. The only noise was the pitter-patter of the rain that hit the fancy hotel room window.

"I- hic… I did all I could…" The count finally broke the silence with a pained and shrill voice.

"C- Count!" Carlton didn't know how to feel when he saw this. He was shocked. He was a commoner. To him, nobles were lofty existences.

Thus, his whole youth he studied hard under several different institutes with the sole help of getting one step closer to these lofty beings. But… who knew… Who knew that those in power could be so… disillusioning.

What he saw once there were not successful people. They were people burdened with pretense. They were pitiable beings fooling themselves into thinking they were of a higher class.

Carlton had taken a second glance at himself and found that his dreams were shattered. He was serving humans like any others.

But… that was also fine. Not everyone could be perfect. The count who always kept to noble traditions and mannerisms. The scion who felt himself above all else.

They ran a charade that fooled the common populace. But who knew that beyond this deceit existed true bonds?

"MIND YOUR MANNERS!" The count screamed at Carlton with a teary and enraged voice.

"I raised him! But that ungrateful b*stard! That piece of sh*t! This all that stupid woman's fault! It's all her fault!" The count suddenly started on a rant.

He was ranting because… his revenge left him empty. The crowd of adventurers that ran from the rain looking for lodging left him empty. It felt more like... like a loser's desperate attempt.

"Why couldn't she birth another son!? Why couldn't she raise him better?! That f*cking woman! Ah!" The count kicked the wall in a fit of anger.

"Sir…" Carlton was scared more than anything now.

"BE QUIET!" Aden Flamewood turned and screamed with a reddened face.

"Bayard! BAYARD! I BROUGHT YOU FROM THE DIRT! This is how you repay me!?" The count screamed at the ceiling as if speaking to someone from beyond.

Carlton who had reached out wishing to help lowered his arm.. It was pitiable.