Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

But even while knowing that Ed's morality was slowly drifting away from him Ed saw this as a necessary step. If he wanted to plot and scheme against the humans or any future obstacles then a cold heart was a must.

'While the elves do that...' Ed looked back at Azalia's tree array. It had been a surprisingly time-consuming project but he would finally be able to put Azalia on life support.

'I can't keep providing her with my vitality after all' That was a liability and also a waste of resources. Ed could only provide so many links and at the moment Azalia couldn't do much for him.

In fact, Ed believed that it was worth it to consider moving the link to another entity.

'Then again…' The link served as an additional safety net for any important individuals.. It was one of the few ways Ed could figuratively fight back while on an entirely different floor.

After a short moment of contemplation Ed decided to just keep things as they were.

'Instead, let's level up my skills' Since the dungeon didn't summon Ed, he had to take things into his own hands. Leveling up the thought manipulation skill was now a priority and luckily, it was definitely possible for him to do this.

Since the Thought Manipulation skill used up Ed's spirit instead of consciousness health it was now a lot more useable. He didn't need as strong a will and therefore he could go to the elven library and assimilate some books for some easy experience.

'That's two birds with one stone' Ed also needed to level up assimilation after all.

Of course, this plan was also not without its hitches. For one, the thought manipulation skill was far from leveling up. Ed still believed that this skill was his best bet but he also believed he shouldn't pin his hopes on it.

'The only skill that might be just as good to be on is, therefore… Body recollection' This skill allowed Ed to regenerate missing parts of his body. It was possible that at a higher level the skill would also allow Ed to create a body from scratch. If not at a higher level, definitely in a future upgrade.

Scratch that, thinking logically, body recollection was not just as good, thought manipulation was still the best bet.

'Body recollection requires too much downtime to use' He needed to have his body rest and for Ed that meant entering the system space. Then he had to wait an indefinite amount of time and overall the skill would be extremely slow to level up.

In contrast, Thought Manipulation had proven its usefulness and so had assimilation. Even if Ed couldn't get what he wanted, his time would not have been wasted.

'Plus Body Recollection only stands a chance if I combine it with other skills' By itself, creating a brand-new body on another floor actually did nothing for Ed.

'I can't believe I let the dungeon fool me into thinking this was a good skill' Ed did have a good impression of the skill at first and while Body Recollection still had potential, that was it. If it took too long to nurture that potential there was nothing Ed could really do.

Having thought about all these things, Ed immediately got to work on the finishing touches of Azalia's array. After that, he would head straight into the library and try to level up his thought manifestation.

***

Outside the cave of myth, things were still chaotic.

"Due to the dangers, no one is allowed in anymore! Please cooperate!" A Freedom Union official yelled out as they fought to push back an adventurer.

"F*ck off man!" This adventurer in question had a fierce and roughened expression, a testament to their strength and experience.

Thanks to the misfortune that befell the main branch, Samuel was able to have Jasmine close up the dungeon without any opposition. Well, no opposition from the Freedom Union itself anyway.

Knowing that the reckless adventurers would still insist on entering Samuel only told Jasmine to make it temporary.

"How long do you plan to make us wait?!" A C-class adventurer yelled out from within the crowd. Despite knowing it was temporary, the adventurers were still impatient. Some of them would only stay at Arbor Town for a few days. Adventurers tended to... well... adventure.

"Until we can guarantee that there is no one trapped in the dungeon there is no entry! So until then, please restrain yourselves!" The Union official promptly respond. This was all publicly available information.

"Well, then how come they are being allowed in!?" Another person retorted while pointing at a retreating group of adventurers.

"They are rescue parties, they received the quest at the Union's Branch Building. Ahem, let me repeat this! Any adventurer of class B or higher is eligible to take on that quest and join a rescue party!" The guild official said to the crowd.

Samuel also got away with implementing his B-class-only rule by taking advantage of the emergency to form these rescue parties. He didn't know for how long he could keep either of these rules up but with the Kingdom's capital still recovering Samuel was optimistic.

It was while these set of rules were in play that the adventurer girl Kimani finally came out of the dungeon. From a single glance, all the onlookers could notice that she had fallen victim to what transgressed in the dungeon.

Kimani didn't necessarily look dirty, and she definitely was not in any way injured. She did seem weak, however. The way she carried herself lacked confidence and her movements just didn't match those of a seasoned warrior.

Since only B-class adventurers could enter now Kimani could only have been a victim of the quake.

"Make way! Let her out" One of the Freedom Union's officials said to the people complaining. Now that they saw solid proof that there were still people in need of rescue lots of dissenters became meek. Others just silently grumbled as the crowd parted.

Kimani was unaware of what was going on but she slowly stepped away from the cave entrance where the officials were situated and walked through the open path in the crowd. This left her walking on the trail back to Arbor Town.

"What am I going to do…" Kimani muttered to herself worriedly. Once she reached Arbor Town all she could really do was head to her home but… what about after that?

The monster in the dungeon placed rather high hopes on her but she had no idea where to even start.

As if sensing her worries, a voice entered Kimani's head at that moment.

'Does the link work outside…?' Ed asked Kimani with some hesitation. The spiritual mark and transmission combo failed him before so he was rather curious as to how the link would fare.

'Huh?' Kimani said in response not quite sure what the monster in her head was on about.

Shortly after finishing Azalia's tree array, Ed noticed that his link with Kimani had grown fainter. Ed figured she was out of the dungeon and became curious, fainter was not invisible after all.

As his transmission had just proven, fainter still allowed for communication. Ed couldn't tell if this was a side effect of the recent quake or just a benefit of the link skill but it was positive news all the same.

Putting that aside however Ed didn't connect to Kimani with the sole purpose of verifying their link, he also wanted to guide her a bit.

After a few minutes of walking, Kimani received a new response.

'Never mind that, you should know more than I about the outside world but either way, I recommend you start by raising your adventurer class and gaining fame' Ed told Kimani.

Based on Ed's understanding of human society, it was much easier to do many things if you had fame. While this wasn't a universal rule, it was generally true. A military man could move into politics for example and a famous actor could become a writer.

Both of these professions weren't necessarily too far apart but the point was that with the fame they gained, these moves were made easier. The military man likely gained the trust of the people and the actor would be able to sell some copies of their book no matter how bad.

Ed was banking on this. If Kimani got some fame as maybe a super rookie she could then move onto other professions.

'I- I'll do that!' Kimani replied flustered. She wasn't very confident in achieving a high-class rating, she had only been a D-class previously. That meant she wasn't actually qualified to enter dungeons under normal circumstances.

With how bustling the cave of myths was however Kimani was able to sneak in. While the dungeon was still technically unclassed, Kimani knew she didn't belong there. If she was caught and someone asked for her rank she would have been screwed.

'Good, I'll provide you with knowledge after you become well-known in the town' Ed transmitted to Kimani.

Worldwide fame was great but Ed did not think Kimani could reach that level easily. Ed also didn't think it was a good idea to even go that far. There was something charming about a local hero.

The people would definitely be more accepting of Kimani that way. Her sudden venture into business in the future would be met with much less suspicion or doubt.

'O- Ok!' Kimani replied.

"Sigh…" She then sighed. Talking with Ed made her tense despite the incredible distance they now had from one another.