Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

Inside the system space, Ed's mind started to spurt out ideas at breakneck speeds. These rapid thoughts clashed with one another and combined into a plethora of differing blueprints ultimately resulting in Ed's mind drawing a blank.

He was getting carried away, he quickly reeled in his thoughts.

'Let's focus on the task at hand for now' Ed needed to figure out what he desired from this structure to make sure it would be appropriate to their situation. Thinking up other ideas right now would do him no good.

With that in mind, Ed immediately got to thinking in a more careful manner. His first thought for a requirement was movement. Yes, he wanted a moving building. That way they could take breaks and not fear losing out on too much travel time.

Of course, a building could only move so fast but every little bit counted. As for how Ed could make a building move… it was at this point practically a non-issue. He could make them a golem or an undead but either way, he could get the building moving.

'The next part is then the break aspect of the structure' The elves needed to take a break in a comfortable spot but at the same time, it should only be comfortable enough to take a break at.

'It would be bad if they all decide to stay cooped up in this moving breakroom' Harboring this thought Ed immediately discarded the notion of using water or ice magic stones to make the room structure chilly.

'Well, some conditioning is fine' Otherwise Ed could only call himself too cruel. After all, who didn't love a nice and cool air-conditioned room? To deprive someone suffering in the heat from the joy of air conditioning… Ed might be a dungeon mob, but he was not a monster!

With these two requirements alone, Ed was able to narrow down the choices for the structure he was to be building. The other requirements were comparatively simple…

The building needed enough space to house everyone comfortably, and also to prevent those inside from losing track of time.

'Rooms without windows tend to cause one to lose track of time' This was even used as a trick by business in Ed's past life. Without the sun and its light as a guide, most living creatures would be completely lost in regards to the time of day. If there were artificial lights to keep the place bright at all times the task became even more difficult!

Shortly after concluding his thought process, Ed dug straight into the building process. The structure he would be making would take the shape of a cube and consist of nothing but a single room.

The room would have transparent windows from which the sun and the sandy dunes could be seen on all sides. Ed could have just made holes but if he wanted to make air conditioning that would be counterintuitive.

Plus, there was nothing wrong with making this moving break room an impenetrable moving fortress while he was at it right?

'That sounds nice, this cube will turn out as some sort of work of art' Ed thought as he with the help of the spirit smith continued to mold the structure's walls, floor, and ceiling. 

He was not yet at the part of installing the transparent windows as he hadn't settled on a material.

'The cube is made of earth…' Ed made it out of the earth so that the arid elves could open the sealed cube, and once inside or outside, they could close it once more. A regular door could have sufficed but only if Ed made one hundred percent sure there were little to no gaps in its frames.

For someone with a system as capable as his, Ed would have no trouble ensuring a door frame had no gaps but… wasn't a magical entrance that could appear anywhere far cooler?

Sure it came at the cost of accessibility but this limited accessibility could also be advertised as a security feature. Not just that, the utility of being able to make an entrance of any size anywhere couldn't be underestimated. 

Yet, that utility was also what was troubling Ed so.

'The transparent windows would prevent them from making entrances of any size anywhere' That was if the material was not earthen at least. But even if it was earthen, Ed was still troubled. Would the elves be able to restore the glass's original position without tainting it?

With these considerations, a plain old door seemed rather ideal. Then again… If Ed just made enough space for a reasonably sized door to be made at every cube face things would still be salvageable… The elves would just have to strictly adhere to opening doors in those spots specifically.

'But.. how will this thing move anyway?' That was important because it would change the cubic shape of the structure into something… else…

As previously stated, he had a couple of methods but the golem approach was a particularly poor one to partake in. 

'My knowledge in the field of golems is rather slim compared to my knowledge of the undead' The structure would thus become an undead.

Otherwise, the golem structure would need to be controlled like a puppet to function which would require Ed and thus inhibit the structure's use in an emergency.

'Man, I am really trying to make a fortress here…' Ed thought to himself before then letting out a sigh.

'Let's just make something' Ed thought before devoting himself wholly to the craft. It was not until half an hour later that Ed finally exited the system space.

"Break's over!" As soon as Ed returned from the system space and opened his eyes, Alolvi called for the continuation of the march.

Hours later, it became time for a break anew.

"Break!" It was now a few hours past noon and the elves were hot and exhausted. The sand beneath their feet was scalding and there was no water to be seen anywhere. Not even the wind carried a trace of humidity.

It was dry and rough thanks to the flying grains of sand.

"Sigh…" The elf that made the cynic joke earlier let out a tired sigh.

"The winds are quickly growing stronger…" They added.

"A sandstorm might be coming" Another experienced arid warrior commented putting on a deep frown containing a trace of fear. He was but a mere youngster of only 58 years of age but he had experienced getting caught in a sandstorm before… it was not pretty.

Actually, it wasn't unusual for the arid elves to experienced sandstorms first hand so everyone else also put on grim expressions.

"Ed…" Alolvi came to Ed's side and said softly. The lich had his eyes closed again making Alolvi afraid to disturb him.

"Umm… Your excellency…?" Alolvi decided to ask for Ed's presence in a more formal matter hoping to obtain a response but it was still of no avail.

…

The lich was in a deep state of meditation of sorts where he could not interact with the outside world.

Noting this, Alolvi did not ask anymore. Instead, his eyes turned sharp having quickly grasped the severity of this matter. This was a weakness.

Alolvi's face quickly returned back to normal, he feigned nonchalance and even placed himself in a position that blocked others' view of Ed as he started a conversation with him.

"Yes, we will do that…" Alolvi finally muttered before turning around.

"Ahem, everyone!" Alolvi shouted to the group.

"Since a sandstorm might be approaching- No! Is approaching, we will quickly create an underground bunker!" Alolvi shouted noticing imposing darkness approaching from the horizon.

"Understood!" "Yes!" "Of course!" "Let's hurry!" The elves all immediately jumped into action. Right after the bloodhaven, the most feared existence in the hearts of the elves was none other than sandstorms.

This was also why the elves were able to quickly identify the threat without seeing the brown wall in the distance. If the wind was picking up… A sandstorm was mere moments aways from approaching. With the arid elves' affinity to the earth… it was impossible to miss really.

Wasting no time, earthen mages immediately parted the soil but much to their surprise, a voice interrupted their magic causing their efforts to go in vain.

"No need to create a shelter" The voice had said.

"Ah…" One exclaimed before quickly turning to where Ed was previously meditating.

Ed was now awake so to speak and after he formed a small smile, a structure suddenly appeared behind him.

This structure mainly took on the appearance of a cube but it had thick walls. This could be seen from large transparent windows.

"This…" "What is that?" The elves all became curious about the appearance of this large and unfamiliar structure.

"This is our shelter" Ed said before parting open a hole in the shelter.

The elves were shocked by the ingenuity of this and then looked off to the horizon only to see that there was no horizon… only sand!

Without further ado, they all rushed into the weird structure and immediately felt their bodies cool.

"Huh?" The rushed steps started to slow as the elves more carefully investigated the cold interior of this cube. To their amazement, they failed to notice the various furnishings Ed had placed inside.

Still, the elves were unable to identify what exactly was cooling the room. The answer was the windows. They were actually made out of carefully diluted ice crystals. The system's ability to turn anything into liquid was truly amazing!

If there was one flaw to this approach however was that the ice crystals would eventually lose their effectiveness while exposed to the hot desert. This was actually why the glass was not a thin frame, but a doubled layered pane. 

The outside used a more plain yet resilient material that coated this ice crystal layer and also easily dissipated heat. This went against all common sense however as glass would tend to amplify heat. One could only say that normal logic did not apply to this fantastical world.

Shortly after everyone entered the cube, Ed also made his entry and then closed the cube's door. Shortly afterward, the light of the cube was replaced with the faint glow of the ice crystal panes.

"The sandstorm…!" The elves instantly realized they underestimated the speed of the sandstorm! It was as though they blinked and they were already engulfed! If they truly tried to make a shelter they would have been caught in a precarious situation.

Ed's intervention was really timely!

The elves were filled with respect and admiration when suddenly the cube shook.

"Huh?" "No… Is it too strong!?" Some elves were frightened. It seemed they were still underestimating the storm!

Ed flashed a satisfied smile that seemed to illuminate the dark room.

"Don't worry, it's just adjusting" Ed said as the structure continued to shake. It eventually found its rhythm however and began taking what felt like steps forward.. But since the elves were enshrouded in complete darkness, they could only make confused expressions.