Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

In the mushroom caverns, the situation created by the delegate died down rather quickly. The delegate didn't die, the blessed lizardwoman, Crini, was forced to back down by Var Agus.

Killing the messenger was a clear declaration of war. Var Agus was not willing to take the risk quite yet. Of course, that didn't mean they let the delegate get off scot-free. They interrogated him and arguably even tortured the lizardman.

"STOP! STOP!! AARGH!! HAHAHAAHA!" They used both pain and tickles to get him talking. Through this method, they learned of the real reason they received an ultimatum.

Kurgher and his tribe were going to face the hydra god… Var Agus couldn't possibly allow this to happen! He would fight them to the bitter end if it was necessary, but the hydra could not be harmed!

"They are trying to kill themselves" Var Agus grumbled while in his home. Fighting a hydra? It would be a good result if they only lost half of their numbers. As the previous shaman of the tribe, Var Agus did not want to see that happen.

He was starting to hatch up plans to stop them, but ultimately realized there was no way to stop them. Kurgher was already in on it based on the messenger, and he would be acting under orders of their deity, Eon.

Facing Eon was impossible for them.

For them. Var now had an idea...

The mushroom god might even the odds, but at the same time…

"They are bound to this cavern" The mushroom deity's combat powers was also rather admittedly weak when compared to Eon. The chances of winning were slim even with their help.

Still, compared to sitting around and doing nothing, this was the plan with the best chance.

Ed was at the moment expanding and growing his field of shrooms when he spotted the arrival of Var Agus. The glowing path had actually informed him long before, but only now that he was physically present did Ed pay him any mind.

'Welcome' Ed transmitted to Var Agus. The latter solemnly knelt. Ed was going to acknowledge his respect when suddenly, a message appeared.

[Transmission has leveled up]

'Finally!' Ed thought excitedly, Var Agus came at just the right time!

[Transmission has met the conditions to advance, Advance Transmission Skill? Y/N]

Ed originally wanted to pay attention to what Var would say, but he couldn't understand anything anyway.

'Yes!' He therefore didn't hesitate to agree on the spot.

[<System Link lvl. 6> is in effect]

With the significantly higher level of the system link skill, it was a given for Ed to be given a few options. He was looking forward to it!

[Choose the path of advancement]

[(Basic) Advanced Transmission - Range and effectiveness greatly increased, allows for easier inference]

[(rare) Telepathic Communication - Form a connection where both parties can communicate with one another] 

[(special) Link - Links body and mind of skill holder and target, allowing for transmission of all manner of immaterial things]

Inspecting the 3 skills, Ed automatically removed advanced transmission from the possible options. The other two skills were simply that great.

'The two-way communication would come in handy…' Even at this very moment, Var Agus was trying to speak to him. If they could both just communicate mentally, not only would the conversation be private… but they could both understand each other.

As for the next skill…

'Link' Ed actually believed it to be the better one. Link made the advanced transmission useless because immaterial things also included thought. As for the telepathic communication… Its effect was not guaranteed to be included, but Ed did suspect it was also included.

Even with or without these things, Ed believed that link was both the better and the smarter choice. Judging solely on the breadth 1of functionality, link had the most potential!

[<Transmission lvl. 9> has advanced to <Link lvl. 0>]

Ed was satisfied after seeing this notice, his mood was significantly better than just a few moments ago. He had to be brought back to reality eventually, however.

<"Please grant us your help!"> Var Agus' pleading voice did the trick. Ed, who had been distracted, obviously couldn't possibly know what Var Agus just said though.

While he could ask it to repeat... that was entirely pointless. There was only one real option.

'Time to test it' Ed thought before activating the newly advanced skill. In that instant, he felt something different.

When using transmission, Ed would not feel anything different, it was just thinking. But with link… the moment he activated it, he felt he was missing a part of himself!

Var Agus who was waiting or an answer also faintly felt that something was missing. He didn't like the feeling, he needed his second half!

Within less than a second, Ed and Var Agus found each other. A faint link was formed between the two of them. It reminded Ed of the spiritual mark, but this feeling went a bit deeper.

How was he to describe it?

All the mushrooms in Ed's field were linked to him through the mycelium network, and Var Agus seemed to fit right in. Did that mean that Var Agus could potentially access this network?

Maybe. Maybe not. But first was getting the thoughts down.

'Var, please repeat that with your mind' Ed transmitted, no, linked, to Var Agus who was puzzled. He felt a weird closeness to the mushroom deity now, which he couldn't explain on his own.

Fortunately, the deity's words had given him a huge clue this time!

'Of course! Please help us deal with the hydra and Eon!' Var begged, though time mentally. This only helped his true feelings on the situation ooze through the bond he just formed with Ed.

'The hydra and Eon…!' Ed thought to himself with a bit of shock. He had received back the message! This skill was indeed the better one!

Back to the actual message, though, there were a few key points. One, there was a hydra, two, Eon was somehow in the mix!

'How come he didn't mention this in front of W?' Ed now knew why Eon stayed in this floor, it was the hydra. But if that was true, why was he taking so long? Ed felt that for the brief period that W stayed with Eon, he should have at least made preparations for the fight.

'Wait... There were preparations' The lizardmen were equipped with enchanted weapons and their skills have improved thanks to the Mensch tribe's conquest of the current floor. Overall, the lizardmen had grown much stronger after his visit.

But that still begged one question, could this team win against a hydra? Ed was not confident that they would win considering Eon's sickly stage. That said, Eon had to be confident if he was insistent on training them.

'That old man surely didn't reveal all his hands' The black hole he used was very intimidating, but it was also too slow to hit anyone under normal circumstances. The sage of space had to have other powerful but not so overbearing spells.

'I will help' Ed transmitted to Var Agus who was instantly elated. This was a big gain!

'But my help is limited' He was a mushroom. How could he fight a distant battle?

The only thing Ed could help with was resources and strategy. Out of these two things, the lizardmen would  probably just ask for his resources.

'Any help is enough!!!' Even if the mushroom deity just appeared somehow during battle and raised the morale of the others, he would be happy! The odds of that were slim since the mushrooms couldn't just uproot themselves and run into battle, but…

'Is it possible to have my mushrooms uproot themselves and run into battle?' Ed asked himself, he pondered on how he could assist in the war efforts. He told Var Agus the help was limited, but the limitations were self-imposed.

His mushrooms were not weak, but when compared against a hydra they most certainly were. This was the limit a couple of upgrades might make a difference. But that was actually unnecessary on further thought. The target for Ed was not the hydra, but Eon. Intercepting the lizardmen that counted as his force was enough to put him at risk when facing the hydra.

There was still the issue of what form this interference would take. The blood clot lizard warriors might suffice, but figuring out a way to get mushrooms there was not a half bad idea. But although Ed made a mushroom that could fly, mass-producing uproot shrooms at this stage in the game seemed unlikely. Not to mention many of the shrooms would not make it through the treacherous swamp.

'This calls for an upgrade in technology' Now that they could communicate, Ed wanted to make use of the waters and his mushroom farms to transport war material.

'Your divinity, I will return after informing the others in the tribe' Var Agus said. His true intention was however to ask for some suggestions on ways Ed could help them. The link skill was rather handy.

Ed sent him an affirmative message and watched Var retreat towards his tribe.

'It's about time for me to check on the orcs…' The problem with that was the battle he had just promised to help in.

'This is what the dungeon wants' Ed convinced himself and decided to immediately get to work. But first, he would need to go through his mind and find some useful technology.

Right off the bat, they would need boats for transportation and maybe even cannons to make ships. He had already made cannons for the orcs, so making ones for the lizardmen was a piece of cake.

Eon probably believed he had an advantage in terms of equipment, but though his enchantments were impressive, they couldn't compare to the crazy ideas in Ed's head. If time allowed it, the Mensch tribe's future looked grim.

Far away, deep in the marsh, the hydra was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the many plots against its persons. It was also unaware of the mushroom ally that was racking its brain to save it.

1 : distance from side to side : width