Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

In the elven society formed in the previously abandoned city, there was the sound of genuine enjoyment by the elves.

"Ah… A day off… I thought I would die doing that pointless job for the rest of my life" An arid elf said while laying down on the hot road taking in the sun's hot rays.

"We've been looking at everything with too much negativity!" A water mage chipped in while bathing in the raging canal. This water was unfit to swim in but for the water mage, it was nonetheless a paradise.

"That's right" A third individual agreed as they exited their arranged residence all smiles.

Slowly but surely, elves who believed Ed to be a force of good were cropping up. They were brought to a place with limitless water and near-guaranteed food supply, how could they complain?

Not just that, but unlike before they didn't need to stay cooped up in an underground facility. They could bask in the sunlight and then cool off in the canals while looking forward to another day of menial work.

While looking forward to menial work seemed backward, apart from needing to stay standing up for a torturously long time, the jobs of most elves relied on doing what equated to nothing. All things considered, they were living it easy.

It was true that humans needed to complete meaningful tasks to feel fulfilled but the same was not true for elves. They could be considered to be a lazy race but that was also expected, they lived such long lives that most things ended up as nothing more than a blip in their pasts.

In fact, as more and more elves took this kind of stance the idea kept on propagating. Things had reached the point that only the elders could be said to be opposing this encroaching evil that was Ed.

The sun in the sky was dimming, the laughter and bliss were slowly dying out as more elves retreated to their temporary abodes.

"Sigh… a day off, we are fighting a losing battle" An arid elder commented, they were currently in a meeting with the other elders in a secluded section of the provided home arrangements.

"Why don't we just give in?" A water mage suggested. The likes of Sudryal and Alolvi managed to land some positions, surely if they worked hard enough they could also regain their former power. No, not just regain but surpass their former power.

"Let's just observe" The elder woman that had previously called in Riniya in a previous instance, Tanila Beilynn, said to the rest of the elders. After Sudryal and Alolvi's arguable betrayal her words started to hold a lot of weight.

Tanila was not the eldest present, certainly not the wisest either, but her skills were formidable and her mind was fearsome. She was a tough opponent to crack and definitely a respectable individual.

All of this made it so she became a prideful woman. On the surface, she didn't seem much different from Riniya, and perhaps in her youth it was very well possible they were like-minded, but unlike Riniya she knew the meaning of patience.

"Observe? What are we observing exactly? Power slowly itching away from our grasps?" But despite Tanila's sizeable portfolio there was bound to be some uncouth individuals amongst the elders.

Tanila shot the man who shouted this a cold glare.

"We are observing the lich and how he treats everyone. It's just as Emmyth suggested, we should give in." Tanila said deciding to humor the outraged man.

"Now we just have to find a way to curry their favor if we want to regain our positions. It's that or fleeing this place" She added coldly. The water mage who outcried immediately quelled their anger after hearing that they had to flee the place.

It had plentiful food and water as well as rather nice fortified walls. How could they bear to leave?

No one spoke anymore calling the meeting to an unofficial close. Every elder then quietly disappeared back into their respective homes using the cover of the night.

No elf noticed.

"Hm?" "Huh?" As soon as morning came, the sound of confused elves could be heard. That was because they all received a transmission from Ed to gather in front of Azalia's chamber.

After about 10 minutes, all the elves got up and gathered in front of the chamber. They were all curious and confused but no one posed any questions. Ed was standing in front of them so how could they dare to speak?

Ed looked rather nonchalant but to the elves of the city that was nothing but a mask to hide his hideous interior. While it was true that some elves now believed Ed to be a force of good, it was also true that he was a lich that messed around with dark arts.

For the elves, it was impossible for them not to see him as a cruel individual. After all, who else would mess with the order of life and death?

"Now that you have all adjusted to this place, it's time to make it your own" Ed said finally starting to speak. As the number of floors increased, it was increasingly impossible to micro-manage them.

While appointing Alolvi as leader was a step towards autonomy for the settlement, that alone was not enough. Ed's goal was Sanctuary 2.0 and for that he needed everyone to take on multiple professions.

Yes, it was indeed time to start teaching.

"In order to work towards that, Alolvi please step up" Ed said calling out for Alolvi. The arid warrior went forward while appearing slightly confused.

"Sudryal, please also come" Ed said also calling out for the elder Sud.

"I will be teaching you guys how to write arrays, Alolvi will be in charge of teaching you all about fighting. Sudryal will be assisting me in regards to teaching all of you" Ed informed the elves who all had surprised expressions on their face.

The elders who were intent on observing Ed's actions were the most stunned of all, however.

"If you don't want to learn any of this, however…" Ed said before slurring the end of his word. The elves immediately started to imagine various torture methods but it was then that Ed smiled and finished his sentence.

"Nothing will happen, you are free to do what you want" Ed believed that most of the elves would want to learn from him since their jobs were boring either way but Ed felt it necessary to remind them.

"That said, those who want to learn from me please line up in front of Sudryal, the others can line up in front of Alolvi. Those uninterested can get back to work." Ed said as a final announcement before retreating from the scene.

As soon as Ed disappeared whispers started from among the elves. Some were sharing suspicious glances but others simply squealed in excitement. The elders amongst the crowd also shared glances before all lining up before sudryal.

The lining up of interested individuals took approximately 5 minutes at which point Ed returned. He eyed the two lines and realized that a surprising amount of people were uninterested.

"You guys can join us later, but are you sure you want to miss the first lesson?" Ed addressed the crowd with curiosity and asked.

"What a relief" "It's all good then" "We need to secure food" The elves all responded simultaneously. Ed managed to latch onto one point in particular, however.

Food.

'Hm… I was going to provide food but… Seeing their commendable actions I'd best remove that from the schedule' There had to be a price that the elves had to pay for these lessons and if Ed did as he originally planned there would be zero cost.

'Well, let's at least provide refreshments' Ed would introduce proper currency at a later period at which point providing food would become a much smaller issue.

"Alright, Alolvi, I know I didn't discuss it with you beforehand but do your best" Ed turned to the newly appointed elven leader and said. Alolvi only offered an awkward smile.

The people that lined up before him were all warriors he was already acquainted with making it very difficult for him to do his best to teach these folks. In fact, Alolvi reckoned that it was very likely they all went to him to fool around and have another break.

He couldn't tell if Ed knew or not but it wasn't like he could ask. Ed quickly retreated with his new students to the outside of the temple.

They walked around the temple until they reached its back at which point Ed stopped.

"Let's set up here" He said before doing the unexpected. Rows and rows of houses started to collapse and crumble one after another and turn into nothing more than rubble and debris.

Of course, since the city had its roads and paths constantly going up towards the temple this rubble was laid out at different levels which Ed now had to clean up to properly flatten.

After the land was rid of buildings, Ed streaked past the rubble promptly collecting all of the debris into his storeroom to sweep the land clean. The area Ed had to clear up was very large so it took him about 5 minutes to finish.

Nevertheless, to the elves, this was already impressive speed. It was so fast that they were left stunned even after they saw Ed return and prepare to speak.

"We will be drawing arrays here and planting seeds" Ed told the elves who were now more confused. Drawing arrays and planting seeds?