Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

Good news travels fast, but bad news travels so much faster. The news that Alolvi would be selecting people to go to the bloodhaven was soon enough known by everyone in the elven city. They were all terrified of being chosen to accompany their slave master.

"No way I am going to that land of depravity!" An elf warrior shouted. They were vehemently against the very notion of nearing the bloodhaven never mind entering it to witness its gruesome horror face to face.

Hearing this, Alolvi who had asked this friend of his to accompany Ed, made a troubled expression. Everyone he talked to, regardless of age or familiarity, refused to go to the bloodhaven alongside Ed.

"You have to understand, everyone is also refusing. I am not being left with many choices here" Alolvi said hoping to earn some sympathy.

"Alolvi… We go way back you know, how about you let me sit this one out eh? I'll join the next one for sure" But all Alolvi received was a bargain.

It had to be noted, this was perhaps the most positive response Alolvi had heard during his trips going from one elf to another while hoping for the best.

"...We'll see" But even then Alolvi could not make any promises. He had to admit he was seeing this friend of his in a more favorable light based on his willingness to even go the second time but the matter was just too large to pick favorites.

Despite these thoughts, Alolvi's friend did manage some success as Alolvi bid them farewell and continued to search for other victims- um, partners for Ed.

Meanwhile, the man that had sent Alolvi on this journey continued to teach his class on formations. It hadn't even been a week since Ed started these classes but there were already a substantial number of students showing their intellect and talent.

'Elves are talented creatures' It was a logical conclusion to draw considering what he was seeing, and it made Ed feel bitter. Despite the elves' long lives, they were quick learners… life was cruel…

Putting silly thoughts aside, Ed began to seriously consider another matter.

'I will need someone to substitute for me' No matter how talented, the elves couldn't learn on their lonesome since it wasn't like they could materialize knowledge out of literal nowhere. If Ed was going out on an expedition, someone still had to teach his classes. 

Upon first rearing, this thought Ed's first idea was to have Sanev do it but contrary to their intention, Ed's impression of them had fallen thanks to their homework plan shenanigan.

This was where Ed's thought stopped, however. Back to the matter of the elves' talents, it was hard to imagine them being able to teach another. 

That wasn't to say that smart talented people couldn't teach but rather that the teaching field was one that required another talent in itself. Those who had already reached a certain level of knowledge in a field tended to find it difficult to humble themselves to the level of their students enough to teach effectively.

Without skills to aid them, or knowledge to back them up, putting any elf in charge of teaching would be nothing short of a big mistake.

After going through this thought process, however, Ed was left with no good choices for a substitute.

…At least that would be if he followed normal convention.

'There is not going to be a perfect substitute' It was impossible for Ed to pass on all of his lesson knowledge to the substitute in a short period of time even if Ed was keen enough to properly estimate how long he would be gone for.

'Which I can't do' Ed hadn't even seen the bloodhaven and didn't even know how far it was, how could he know how long their trip would take? It was simply impossible to account for all variables at the moment.

'Thankfully, there is actually a way to perfectly pass on my knowledge and or skills' The link skill, was all it took. But choosing someone new to link with was outside of Ed's link budget.

To Ed's luck, there already existed a perfect linked candidate.

'Azalia' The divine tree that often rested quietly in the humid chamber was an array expert despite her appearance and demeanor.

Ed quickly retreated into the chamber, the sound of running water and working elves welcomed his ears. Ed mentally blocked off the sound of the elves and focused only on Azalia as he quietly approached the tree.

'Azalia, I have a job for you' Ed transmitted to the tree solemnly.

…

But Azalia did not respond for some odd reason. It made Ed doubt if their link was still present.

'Do… Do trees sleep?' Logically, the answer was yes. While their state at night would be better described as dormant, that they slept was a reality. The question however then became do divine trees being provided with ample energy sleep?

The answer to Ed appeared to be a resounding no so he could only let out a sigh.

'You are not a divine tree for nothing, I will give you some of my vitality-' Ed transmitted to the tree which immediately seemed to perk up.

'Understood! Please give me my task!' The tree shouted into Ed's mind enthusiastically with a surprising degree of formality. Having received such a response, Ed could only shed a silent tear.

'They grow up so fast…' As it turned out kids, and ancient divine trees recovering from a near-death state, did appear to take after their parents and their environment.

'Ed?' Azalia asked cutely.

'...Ahem' Ed quickly regained his bearings.

'I will need you to teach the elves how to draw arrays' Ed hadn't yet properly explained to Azalia what arrays were or how they functioned but thanks to the linked transmission Azalia had no problem understanding Ed's intention.

'Ok!' Azalia replied.

'Good' Ed thought before realizing something else.

'Right, in order to do it you'll need my transmission skill. Whenever classes are to start, just contact me and I'll lend you my power.' Ed couldn't say for sure if Azalia would be able to use the skill to the same proficiency as himself but Ed was certain it would work.

'Ok and…?!?' Azalia hinted excitedly causing Ed to roll his eyes, the tree couldn't see nor understand this gesture.

'After classes are over at night you'll get your reward' Ed informed Azalia who quietly took in this information. The tree had no complaints in regards to this arrangement.

With that settled, Ed could finally rest easy. He just had to settle one final matter.

He returned promptly to the system space and immediately began to work on something. If there were any other individual present in the system space they'd be able to see Ed working hard alongside the spirit smith in the forge.

But… what was he crafting?

The more observant imaginary viewers would not fail to notice that this was the body that W was previously inhabiting. Yes, Ed was modifying it at the moment.

W's ability to fly was nice to have but it didn't serve him very well for actual combat on its own.

'Which is why…' Combining the flight with something else was crucial and in this case, Ed chose his best and most eco-friendly weapon.

Mushrooms.

The skeletal bat-winged-like creature Ed had previously created now had its white bones take on a far more earthly tint. The bones texture went from hard to muddy and tensile but this softening was not done for no reason.

Mushrooms now adorned the brown skeleton. These mushrooms would sprout and grow practically on their own as long as they were properly maintained and could be used tactically for these were doom shrooms.

Ed had created a mushroom-infected skeleton bomber.

There were many things Ed could have done to make W's body more combat viable. He could have provided him with more attack skills and reinforced his body, or he could have made a new body from scratch and made it one that focused on defensive tactics as opposed to offensive and oppressive ones.

Nevertheless, Ed felt that the safest best was and would always be a ranged approach.

'The new body is arguably weak to the touch but…' It couldn't be more brittle than a skeleton in a hot air balloon right? Just one puncture and poof!

Giving W some nice mobility skills could more than makeup for this shortcoming. So what if his body was brittle? If no attacks landed it made no difference.

Of course, that wasn't to say that Ed's choice to make a bomber skeleton was without flaws.

'The mushrooms are organic' They needed to be properly cared for in order to grow strong and plentiful. The harsh environment of the desert did not lend itself well to this.

'That limits W to mostly keeping within the confines of Azalia's chamber' It would be rather awkward if the mushroom payload exploded early while W was flying after some enemy in the hot desert.

Yet, this shortcoming could also be mildly circumvented.

'The mushrooms can learn skills and propagate with those skills' Giving the doom shrooms some heat resistance was no problem for Ed considering his wide variety of wares.

Plus, it had to be mentioned, the limit was hardly a limit since Azalia's humid and hospitable chamber was the only place in real need of guarding and monitoring.

A few minutes later, Ed had applied all the necessary modifications to W's body and let him out to take in some of the fresh air in Azalia's chamber.

'W, guard this place' Ed instructed W as soon as he was called in from the assembly room.

W who now appeared like some sort of infested undead creature nodded.

'Leave it to me' He also added confidently.

With this, as soon as Alovli gathered some warriors, it was time to depart.