Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

The adventurers were right, Ed did have a plan. Things however had already derailed from those plans.

'I didn't last long enough' The enemies were still in nearly mint condition. Only the 21 people, now 18, that had entered the temple suffered any damage.

In contrast…

[Name: Edw#&!]

Type: Skeleton

Health: 504/900

Mana: 123/260

Strength: 7

Agility: 5 (+2)

Constitution: 8

Dexterity: 5

~Skills:~

[Adept Throwing lvl. 5] -Show-

[Swordsmanship lvl. 1] -Show-

[Hoarding lvl. 8] -Show-

[Mental Fortitude lvl. 8] -Show-

[Transmission lvl. 6] -Show-

[Explosion Resistance lvl. 0] -Show-

[Assessment lvl. 2] -Show-

[Assimilation lvl. 7] -Show-

[Thought Manifestation lvl. 1] -Show-

[Language lvl. 1] -Show-

[Mana Manipulation lvl. 6] -Show-

[???] -Show-

[Eloquence lvl. 4] -Show-

[Sixth Sense lvl. 1] -Show-

[Crystallize lvl. 8] -Show-

[Instruction lvl. 3] -Show-

[Requiem lvl. 1] -Show-

[Body Recollection lvl. 2] -Show-

Ed had lost nearly half of his health in that small window of time,

'Am I made of glass perchance?' After rampaging around with his orc body Ed could only declare that his skeleton body was too fragile.

His plan was essentially to weaken the knights first and then pelt them with his army of weak skeletons inside of the boss room. As soon as he killed some of them he would use requiem to turn the knights into zombies. These zombies would be far stronger than the skeletons and would help him chip away at the humans.

A flaw of this plan was that it cut at his potential profits.

'I can't turn too many of them into zombies' Turning the knights into zombies would mean consuming their soul. He wanted to keep that for his own levels, however.

As he had previously chosen to disregard the loss of profit, Ed would then be able to continue with the next step of the plan.

'After reaching the level up requirements I run into the portal…' A perfectly executed plan. Unfortunately, there was no such thing. The only way to prevent this from happening again was to find out where he had gone wrong but there was no time for that.

'I need to improvise' Ed told himself as he continued to run for the black dot that was the distant portal.

Ed began to think of each action and each possibility as per usual but if there was one thing different it was the pressure. Yes, formulating plans while sitting on his throne made him feel important but that was just an empty feeling.

What Ed needed was this pressure. But what exactly pressured him? Certainly not death. In fact, a large majority of Ed's plans end with him dying. What he feared, was failing.

Failing didn't imply he would simply die. It implied that his orcs would have to face a stronger party of adventurers or knights. His chances of victory would become slimmer and slimmer.

It was like a game. A game that scaled based on the choices and performance of the player.

'But that's just life I suppose' A cruel game, but one he had to participate in.

With these melancholic thoughts as motivation, Ed's mind churned.

'What spells can I use? What traps can I set? When? Where? All of these thoughts came together until Ed finally came up with a simple yet to be tried strategy.

This happened just in time too, Ed turned away from the portal and faced the boss gate. A piercing grating sound had alerted him. This harsh sound naturally came from the gate as it opened. Both sides of the gate were being pushed by some burly knights.

Ed examined himself one last time as he summarized the choices he would make and what sacrifices he might have to suffer.

[Robe of Stars (Ragged)]

[Bracelet of Strength (Broken)]

[Anklet of the Wind (Damaged)]

His equipment had seen better days and it was therefore not impossible for him to lose things like the robe of stars. His bracelet of strength had already turned into a dud.

'I really want to keep the robe' But unfortunately, Ed's harvest depended heavily on this item. His magic attacks could be maintained through crystals but the reactions would still be delayed even if by only a second. The transfer from the crystal to the body and then into a spell or manipulated form took at least that much time.

One of Ed's greatest perks was his cast speed. Thanks to his mana manipulation he never needed to chant anything reducing significantly a lot of idle time. His timing was almost immediate, not many could boast this.

Not using these items while in an already weakened state would be foolish. Not to mention it was impossible for his new plan to be carried out without his robe.

The grating stopped. The company of knights marched on in unimpeded. All of the members were still wary, however.

"Stay by the door, don't let it close" Balin said before narrowing his eyes and glancing around the clearly illuminated boss room. His gaze finally stopped once it landed on a distant black dot and a humanoid silhouette.

"It's a pretty fast runner" Balin said seriously before kneeling and placing his hand on the floor. He closed his eyes and inserted earthen mana into the ground.

After a short while, he frowned finding nothing at all. His eyes then widened in realization before shooting upwards.

Above him was nothing again.

"It didn't prepare anything...?" Balin didn't know what to think at this point. He turned to the scouts who shrugged helplessly after casting some spells and glancing around without any fruit.

Ed who was by the portal couldn't help but start to get bored. Did his actions thus far warrant such high levels of paranoia?

"Mages, long-distance spells" But Ed didn't need to be kept waiting. Finding no real immediate threat, Balin decided to start with long-range attacks.

This put Ed in a tough spot but as he had expected such an approach he wasn't too devastated by the revelation. It just meant that the effectiveness of his next move would be dampened.

'Rise' Ed sent a simple large scale command. His thoughts created an earthquake as the earth began to tremble and rumble loudly.

"Hold your place! Remain steady!" Balin wasted no time in competing with the loud rumbles as he began to shout out orders.

The mages who had begun casting and the sole A-ranked archer Ray were all forced to aim more carefully as the steady ground swayed their vision.

"T- The ground is crumbling!" One of the knights then yelled as their footing became unsteady. This B-class knight instantly recalled the lava trap his commander had fallen into and couldn't help but become frightened.

"Eh?" The knight fell on his butt. Wearing such heavy armor, this hurt quite a lot. Nevertheless, the sight of a white hand reaching for his leg from within the ground held his entire focus.

"It's skeletons sir!" Another knight yelled as he too saw a hand appear from the ground near him. The knight swung at the boney hand and sliced it clean. Another hand then shot out.

This was followed by many more pairs directly underneath the knights and mages. As heads and legs continued to appear from within the hard floor, the knights continued to swing at these new foes.

"Ignore them!" The mages also wanted a piece of the action but were quickly reprimanded by their squad captain. Balin also followed up on this order.

"Knights, protect them!" Balin said before grabbing a handful of seeds from a cloth pouch.

"These stupid bone heads aren't a problem!" A knight declared triumphantly as he kicked down one of the white skeletons onto the hard rock flooring. A couple of its ribs broke and its skull formed a couple of cracks.

Just as he was about to throw them however he was forced to pause momentarily. A torrent of wind started darting towards the direction of him and his party.

'Remote materialization has connection issues when the dungeon is watching' This was probably due to the system being extra careful with disguising itself as a normal inventory skill. Nevertheless, Ed didn't need his inventory to make crystals.

Dazzling green crystal continued to be formed again and again in Ed's palms thanks to his Crystallize skill. Using these shards Ed cast dozens upon dozens of blades of winds to form a wall of death.

This torrent of deadly wind charged towards the knights who were too busy bullying the weak.

With adept hands, Balin threw back the seeds he had brought out before reaching out for a new pouch. He stepped on the ground cracking open the flooring and allowing him to throw the seeds into the hole.

Soon after the seeds fell, hefty tree bark began to rise in the form of a wall. This wall grew leaves and branches and became a blockade of green and brown.

The wind torrent which had traveled all the way from Ed's spot to the entrance of the room was severely weakened and upon reaching the tree were only able to give it a trim job.

Balin realized he had been fooled, but it was too late.

A giant rock started to form in the sky above him and his people. This giant rock which seemed to be materializing out of thin air then started to sink slowly. No, it started to fall. Rapidly!

"Mages, blast that thing apart!" Balin shouted towards the mages that were at the cusp of finishing their combined chant.

Immediately, all sorts of spells darted towards the giant rock that hovered over the knights and the skeletons. Their timing was uneven due to the fact that not all of them had finished at the same time but it still made for an intimidating picture.

Contrary to what the knights might expect however Ed was beyond happy by this move.

'They actually went ahead and attacked it' If Ed had a face to smile he would have the widest grin imaginable.