Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

On the surface, still riding his abominable creation, Ed stood there silently taking in the barren sight. He had just recently absorbed W and he now sat there pensively.

Now that he could feel some of the terror that W felt he had to admit he couldn't let those elves go without at least intimidating them a bit. While W wasn't traumatized or anything, given that they were the same person Ed still felt some animosity towards them.

'Hmm… I should probably be careful about that too' He needed to be as rational as possible at all times. That was at least what he personally believed was best when dealing with the unknowns of the dungeon.

Speaking of unknown...

'Should I maybe go to the ruins found by Mauro?' After Idrisi was blown away by a sandstorm he ended up surprisingly close to the ruins Mauro found. It wasn't very close on foot but Ed was not on foot.

Noting that there was another entity, Ed realized something.

'I wonder if I should name you…' Ed thought looking at the creature he created. The wormllipede would be keeping Ed company in the desert so he didn't believe it was a bad idea.

But the only problem was that Ed felt there was nothing wrong with wormlipede. Maybe he'd leave it up to fate? He'd leave it to the chance that he'd chance upon a name?

'Alright, let's do that' Ed though before quickly instructing the wormllipede to turn around and dashed off towards the ruins. Given what he learned about the elven society on the floor thus far he didn't think a trip to this new ruin would take too long. It at most counted as a small detour.

He was originally heading back home but that was really quite a waste. The elves might want to escape in that time. He couldn't ascertain that they would remain despite his words.

'Well, I can find them again for sure' But that was only as long as he invested a lot of resources into it. Yet at the same time… there should be other settlements around right?

Most of the settlements would have likely adopted a similar attitude and be hidden there somewhere but with enough searching they could be found.

Back to the matter of the ruins however, since it was just a small detour he could also check back with the villagers to secretly observe their intentions. Not just that but he could also attempt to leave behind a couple of spiritual marks on some inhabitants or even common items.

'As long as I give something they have to take with them a consciousness finding would be a piece of cake' Ed thought feeling somewhat proud of his smart thinking. Sure he could have done this BEFORE leaving but… erm… well maybe he really didn't have an excuse.

Ed was to quickly head back to the elven underground and then carry on towards a likely more advanced abandoned settlement.

***

Back in the elven underground, a meeting was taking place. There were many important individuals for the elven society here and they were calmly exchanging thoughts -

"We have to move! That thing is a threat! It can't be elven!" An elderly elf shouted angrily. This was an old and well-known water mage for the elven society. Some would call him the progenitor of the tradition. His words carried weight.

"But they didn't show any outright hostility" A strong and yet lean arid elven warrior said vouching for Ed's personality. They personally witnessed the terrifying undead beast and knew how strong the thing had to be.

"Enough! We aren't getting anywhere like this! We aren't supposed to be this causing this now!" An elderly arid elf shouted they too now angry.

The discussion was actually not at all calm but fortunately there did exist some voices of reason.

"You are right, guards bring in Riniya!" An elven woman said to some arid guards. One of them nodded and bid a short farewell before leaving the meeting room.

After a minute or so, the elven guard returned with Riniya in tow.

The moment she entered, all eyes were on her. There were glares and scowls thrown her way clearly expressing dissatisfaction with the mess she created for them.

Surprisingly enough however, Riniya did not seem scared or in any way intimidated by the sharp eyes of these high-ranking individuals. Instead, she almost seemed elated. Hadn't she successfully gotten the attention of the important individuals? If she played her cards right there was still hope for her!

Riniya was trying her best to hide these thoughts but there was no way for these wise elves to not notice the impertinent reaction of this young elf.

"Riniya, do you have any words to explain yourself?" The toned arid warrior from earlier said in a solemn tone of voice. He knew Riniya personally as he used to be quite close friends with her father. Basically, he had watched her grow up.

"Uncle-" "Not to me! To everyone!" He interrupted and barked. Riniya flinched but only for a small second.

"I just had the safety of the society best in mind" Riniya said while maintaining a stoic expression.

"Riniya…" Her 'uncle' said with angry disappointment. Having seen her grow he knew very well that this young girl wasn't always this proud. 

From young, her mana manipulation skills were top-notch amongst her peers. That meant she showed great potential and would likely join the ranks of the elves present in the future.

But for now she was a mere guard, that position would only be hers in the future. This stemmed from the fact that elves tended to live long lives.

Those in charge would remain in charge for a very long time and only after hundreds of years would the "younger" ones get a chance. Riniya despite being an elf was not patient enough, however.

"Riniya, your actions have done the opposite of keeping this place safe! How do you expect to atone for this blunder!?!" The elven woman who called her in shouted. She was one of the eldest earthen mages in the society so her words also carried a lot of weight.

To this question, Riniya had no answer. In her head, she never considered the possibility of failure. Frankly, she underestimated the undead's master a bit too much. Did she think it was a lie? Or did she think she could handle it?

A hidden shock hit Riniya at that moment. The thought that she might have made the wrong call silently crept up on her.

"I-..." She said before pausing, she was surprised to find that her words suddenly failed to keep up with her anxious thoughts and that her stoic expression was faltering. What could she do to atone for it?

"I can talk with the necromancer and apologize-!" "Enough!" She was cut off.

"But I-!" "Do you intend to defy my words Riniya?" The elven woman and Riniya then had a small back and forth. That was until Riniya got the hint and was forced to remain quiet.

The room was now silent.

The elves partaking in this meeting all stared at Riniya who kept on meeting their gazes as if looking for someone that could help her. She knew what they wanted her to say but she didn't want to admit anything.

She only gave up when her uncle quietly shook her head at her.

"I can't do anything to compensate for it…" She ultimately admitted letting go of her facade. The consequences of her actions far outweigh any possible atonement.

If she really went to the possibly a lich master of those undead and apologized he might take it as a mockery. Would such an esteemed individual be satisfied with just an apology?

If he wasn't then Riniya's head would without a doubt be sent flying. By whom? Well, it was hard to judge seeing that all the elves in the room were still glaring at Riniya despite given them the answer they hoped for.

But maybe it was because they still had not come up with a good conclusion. If she couldn't atone for it what could they possibly do to quell the necromancer?

They could still try to migrate the civilization but the problem was that the cost of doing that would be hefty. This location had been painstakingly built up for the past century and there was already a sizeable pool of water where the water mages could train and grow.

Going elsewhere meant digging up new houses, a new storage, and most importantly a new reservoir. This fact made the elves hesitant to simply get up and leave. Plus if they were caught in the process the situation would be dire!

"Ahem, Riniya's suggestion to apologize isn't quite so bad" The eldest elf spoke and said.

"We can start from that and then just hand her over" They continued to add causing Riniya to audibly gasp.

"Hand me over?!" She screamed out in surprise. Multiple glares once again landed on her person causing her to shrink back instinctively.

"It's decided then, let's try and make amends with the necromancer" "Yes, this is the right choice" "I agree" Everyone in the meeting room suddenly came to accord and only Riniya was left to despair. Was she really going to be handed off to someone who dealt with those filthy undead?

Riniya collapsed onto the floor, she only looked down at it with lifeless eyes.

She committed a grave mistake.