Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

Ed walked for a couple of minutes through the plains, eventually reaching a large patch of tall grass. He was wondering if he could find anything useful there. The undead dungeon had crates and furniture with resources for him to use. However, the seemingly boundless plains seemed devoid of such convenient items.

'I don't lose anything except time if I search around...' But that alone was a problem.

The truth is, Ed stuck to the principle of using his assimilation skill as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that was not possible this time since his items and books did not get transported alongside him. He did consider assimilating the grass itself but the prospect seemed a bit lackluster. But the grass was becoming rather enticing, wasting time was a waste of an upgrade. If he allowed 11 more hours to pass without assimilating anything he would be losing too much.

'I guess I will search around a bit...' He was really against the idea of assimilating grass.

Ed entered the tall grass which given his orcish size wasn't actually that tall, as what he presumes is now an orc champion he was probably tall among orcs. Needless to say, that was ultimately just speculation, he would need to find some actual orcs to test that theory.

It hadn't been a single minute but Ed heard some rustling nearby, the culprit stopped after noticing it had been heard. The animal or monster stopped and Ed would not pass on the chance to investigate. His goal was to explore this new location inside the dungeon and finding information on the wildlife was naturally a part of that.

'I wonder what it could be...' Ed was obviously not afraid of being attacked by any monster, he was a dungeon mob after all. Humans wouldn't appear out of thin air either. He was instead driven by curiosity and hope. He hoped that whatever appeared carried something he could assimilate.

Ed didn't have to walk very far, as a matter of fact, you could say the creature was right in front of him. It was simply too short to be seen at first glance. Just as Ed was about to part the tall grass and take a look, he heard a weird shriek or squeal, maybe both. The creature then ran away as fast as it could, Ed was puzzled by its behavior.

'Am I that scary?' Putting aside the fact that he was probably one of the fiercest looking orcs out there, Ed had simply walked near the squealing creature, why was it so terrified??? Then again even regular animals are easily frightened...

Obviously that didn't mean he wouldn't chase after it. The base attributes of an orc were enough to catch up to the running creature, an orc champion with boosted attributes need not be mentioned. Given that Ed didn't give it much time to run away, he caught up to the creature with a couple of simple strides.

The creature stumbled once it saw Ed's large shadow looming over it, It dared not continue its flee. Instead, it started to cry squeals of distress, the short green creature was probably lamenting its poor life choices at that very moment.

Ed did not know why it reacted that way but quite frankly he couldn't really care. The short green creature seemed to be a goblin, it wore rags and had an ugly face. Still, there was no point in guessing, he decided to get a better confirmation.

[Goblin (Distressed)]

A short and mischievous creature, quick on its feet.

Ed did a simple nod while observing the pitiful creature. It seemed to have forgotten about him entirely as it cried relentlessly. Ed was starting to feel guilty for simply appearing in front of it, but how was he supposed to know that the goblin would overreact like this...

Ed didn't intend to simply watch as the goblin wallowed in despair, he decided to test something out. In the past, he had tried to communicate with zombies but it was ultimately to no avail. He concluded that it was likely due to a difference in species but maybe now that his transmission skill was better and that the target was actually alive things would work better.

'I am not going to hurt you' They were simple words but they should do the job.

The wailing goblin finally stopped crying so intensely and instead started sobbing. The sobbing eventually came to a stop as It finally gathered the courage to look up towards Ed's face. Indeed, Ed seemed to have no intention to harm it, the goblin now looked up towards Ed as if it was some sort of magnanimous lord.

The goblin's new outlook was also a bit weird, so Ed couldn't help but let out a couple of awkward coughs. The goblin didn't have anything on its body so Ed decided to be on his way, he just might need to assimilate grass at this rate.

'You can go now, Sorry for the trouble.' Ed shooed the goblin away, following it might not be a bad idea. The goblin was moved to tears by Ed's apology and left while weeping.

'That goblin must be extremely well hydrated' Ed muttered in his mind as he instead decided to continue his search. Goblins usually move in groups based on his memories but this one was alone. It might have been excommunicated or something of the sort. Ed chose not to mention how pitiful the goblin would be if he decided to follow it.

Thirty minutes of futile searching then passed, Ed decided to give in and picked the best looking grass in the vicinity.

[Vitality +1]

[Assimilation on cooldown]

'Oh' He had received vitality this time. He had a vague idea of what that attribute might entail.

'It is most likely health' That's right, Ed believed that vitality most likely meant health. The reason why he lacked that attribute as a skeleton was likely because he was dead. Constitution which was likely in charge of defense then took its spot. Strong bones meant good health right? Well for a skeleton that seemed to be the case.

'All in all, not bad' He would need to assimilate more plant life in the future to increase his health. Now that he took care of his assimilation, it was time to move on to other things. Particularly, housing. Now that he was technically alive, he might be able to gain attributes by exercising. If he did want to go that route he would need a comfortable space. His current location did not fit the bill.

Ed exited the large patch of grass and continued to head in one direction. Oddly enough the terrain started to change. There were hills every now and then as well as more rich vegetation. The trees in the location where numerous. The only downside to this was that his field of view had decreased. It would be much harder to spot any human-like settlements.

'Maybe I will find some random cabin since this is starting to look like a forest' That train of thought was what prevented Ed from turning back. His chances of finding something in the woods seemed much higher to Ed.

'Well... It's not like I can understand how this dungeon works' There was no way to prove that theory other than to keep walking. Ed stopped thinking about it and continued his walk.

Nearly an hour had passed since Ed entered the forested area. Ed had become accustomed to walking throughout the desolate and creepy undead part of the dungeon. The forest was therefore a welcome change of scenery.

'Hm?' Ed could swear he had heard something off in the distance. It sounded like a faint roar, maybe some sort of battle cry.

He walked in the direction from which he had heard the sound and as expected, he started to hear sounds of battle. Ed frowned as a battle should not be taking place inside of the dungeon, he was most certainly puzzled as to why he was hearing those sounds.

'Could the mobs be fighting each other?' It was an idea he had discarded after living in the undead dungeon. The skeletons always seemed rather cooperative and the zombies did nothing even when he killed them.

It was of no use to stay there thinking. Ed climbed a small hill that led towards what he presumed was a battlefield. He decided to mentally prepare himself as he did so. He didn't want to be caught off guard if the creatures behind the hill were actually enemies.

Ed poked his head above the hill, the sounds of metal against metal could be plainly heard from there. He spotted what seemed to be, orcs. All things considered, it wasn't really that big of a surprise given their nature but... He didn't think dungeon mobs could be hostile towards one another. Especially not to the point of drawing blood...

Orc corpses were littered all over the battlefield. The worst part was that their battle seemed like it would never end, new bodies kept on appearing. More and more orcs came out of the forest from two separate directions and entered the fray, apart from some skilled few, the battlefield kept on changing personnel. The battle cries were let out by said newcomers as they lusted for battle.

'This is... Mad...' To a civilized person like himself, the sight before him was nothing short of madness. The number of people he had killed could not be compared to the orc corpses on the ground right now.

The chaotic battlefield might seem random at first glance but it was actually the fight between two factions. If not there must have been some sort of internal dispute or this was some cruel game. Regardless, Ed had seen enough.

'I should get away for now...' He could come back after a victor was decided to find their settlement, he didn't want to join the turbulent battlefield.

'Retreating should be good' Ed nodded and prepared to leave when he suddenly heard some rustling. Out of the forest came out what seemed to be an orc woman. She was riddled with battle scars and had large muscles, she held a battleax with just one hand. Ed was stunned by her sudden appearance, what was he supposed to do now?!?

The woman also didn't expect to see him there but she was nowhere near as shocked, rather she let out a hearty laugh.

"Hahaha! Were you waiting for me?" The orc woman grabbed the large Ed and dragged him towards the battlefield before he could put in a word of protest.

What made it seem like he was waiting for her? He wanted nothing to do with this!!!