Published at 29th of July 2022 8:58 am

Chapter 468 - Arid Lands

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Time ticked by quickly.

[Summoning Dungeon Champion]

The usual message appeared this meant that the time was over before Ed knew it. He didn’t think much of it though, he had done this routine a dozen times.

As his consciousness was sucked into the void, there were only the lingering thoughts of his speculations. These thoughts were interrupted and only later when he found himself facing the night sky with blurry vision did he regain his clarity.

Needless to say, Ed’s position was a bit weird. He didn’t leave any of his bodies out to dry in the moon, right? That made no sense, it, therefore, came to him as a great surprise when he also found himself with a sense of unfamiliarity.

‘Could it be…?’ Ed’s groggy thoughts formed a sole conjecture as to why. He was in a new body! There was no other explanation for the familiar unfamiliarity!

As for what the body was… he could see, feel, smell, and hear things. He had all the five senses of a human being. Looking down at his arm and legs, his body was also not too unlike that of a human being. His skin could be said to be fair though it wasn’t light.

There was only one possible race!

[Name: Edwa&!]

Type: Elf (Arid)

Health: 500/500

Mana: 200/250.ᴄᴏᴍ

Vitality: 0

Strength: 0

Agility: 0

Constitution: 0

Dexterity: 0

~Skills~1

[Survivalist lvl. 0]

[ You have a knack for adaptation and survival ]

‘A dark elf was my guess…’ But apparently, Ed would have guessed wrongly.

‘System, what’s up with this?’ The name of the species was definitely elf so what was up with the arid? Not to mention the skill felt a bit lackluster, maybe even odd. Why would he even need such a…?

Ed suddenly realized something. There was a bright moon up in the sky illuminating the parched and cracked ground beneath his feet.

This was a desert. If not that, it could be described as arid ground. Ed imagined such a place had never seen rain in its life, otherwise, how could it reach such extremes?

‘So that’s why it says arid…’ The land was like a desert where nothing could survive.

‘Wait… am I… am I alone here?’ A frightening thought. Ed’s heart almost skipped a beat. He was reminded of his initial period in the crypt and the things he had to do to kill or pass the time.

The loneliness was his most haunting memory, however. He was unable to speak to the undead that accompanied him and he was forced to kill any humans that entered.

‘I had it rough’ Ed didn’t want to face that haunting loneliness again but he quickly got over it. His emotions had matured, or at least he had become more indifferent to lots of things.

Loneliness was one of them.

‘What should I do now…’ Ed wondered as he took in the dead environment for a second time.

‘Should I try finding out if I am really alone?’ The status said he was an elf but it also added arid to the name. This had to be some sort of subspecies he never heard of before.

The thing was that Ed doubted the system and dungeon would create a subspecies of elves for him with the sole purpose of allowing him to survive the wasteland they put him in. There had to be others somewhere!

With this belief, Ed began to wander about. The moon high up in the sky was his only companion, there were little to no dazzling stars. Ed didn’t know what to make of it.

‘Even such a small joy has been taken away’ Star gazing was such a pleasant experience, if there were any survivors in this place they’d have to be bored to death. On second thought that sounded rather paradoxical. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

After what felt like hours of walking in the night, Ed’s feet were not sore nor was his will weakened. Though his hopes of finding someone had undoubtedly grown dimmer.

‘Why…’ Ed was really curious as to why or how the dungeon even had this floor. Could it be another form of punishment from the dungeon? If it was, he for sure had to praise its creativity!

Though secretly angry, Ed knew that the dungeon was probably not punishing him. The times it was punishing him, Ed was informed that was the case by the system.

‘The mushroom body can’t really be called a punishment’ Ed already analyzed that the outcome was not bad. It took a little while, but the final outcome was good. Even if the dungeon did have some bad intentions when giving him the mushroom body, it was never intending to break their relationship.

‘Hm?’ Ed’s thoughts were interrupted by a strange sight. Was that… green? Could the color green even exist in such a place?

Ed narrowed his eyes to get a batter look and indeed! There was some sort of plant off in the distance!

Not caring about anything else, Ed sprinted off towards it. To his surprise, once he was right in front of this blade of grass he could also spot other blades of grass! There was vegetation towards this direction!

‘This must be…!’ He must have gone in the right direction, if there were living things anywhere this was the place!

Having picked up his speed, Ed became keenly aware of the body’s agility. While it couldn’t compare to his orc body if the two were to have the same attributes the situation would be different.

Not to mention, Ed’s senses especially his eyes also felt heightened. It was almost as if he was naturally alert to everything that was going on in his immediate vicinity. The feeling was gratifying, but Ed didn’t get lost in it. He focused solely on what was ahead.

After just a few minutes of sprinting, the land beneath Ed’s feet was full of small weeds and vegetation. As he continued to run further and further he could now see trees and other things of the such.

‘Do… Do I hear water?’ Ed thought with gleaming eyes. He was already going as fast as he could but the thought of seeing water filled him with determination.

Before he could get far however he noticed something just past the trunks and leaves of the trees.

‘Is that a wall?’ The wall seemed downtrodden and aged but the color was a dirty white. It seemed to hint at a much better past. Ed’s steps finally slowed.

‘This is definitely a civilization’ Would it be elves or some random mobs? Ed was uncertain but the former was definitely far more likely. Still, he had to exercise caution.

Ed activated his sixth sense. While his senses were good, when it came to finding life, sixth sense was unparalleled. He then slowly grew nearer to the wall watching out for signs of life.

As growing nearer required passing by the trees, Ed came to notice an anomaly.

‘These trees look… dry…’ They were still green but… the sixth sense did not detect life. This was a dead and hollow body. Though that begged the question as to how or why the tree still had verdant leaves.

Ed decided it was time to make an assessment.

[Coated Leaf]

[ A leaf coated with a transparent preserving sap ]

‘This…’ Ed didn’t know what to make of this finding. He decided to assess the entire tree this time.

[Decorated Hollow Tree]

[ A symbol that wishes to instill the image of a still-thriving community]

Ed’s thoughts were frozen and replaced by a deep feeling of sadness. The idea of a fake tree was… frankly… pitiful…

‘This is a horrible place’ The dungeon clearly did not maintain this floor at all. How could this state even come to be? Did the dungeon have nothing to gain from the place? Was that the reason why it became so decadent?

Thinking strictly in terms of producing consciousness, the dungeon’s priorities made a lot of sense. The goblins and orcs probably reproduced much faster than elves. Not to mention how they likely also cost much less to create and maintain.

Adding what Ed knew of elves from his past life… the elves tended to live for a rather long time. For the dungeon that was a definite downside. It wanted the things inside it to die and by the looks of things, it might be succeeding.

There were little to no plants and as obvious aftermath of that, there was little to no life. Ed had a hard time believing the dungeon truly thought it wise to kill off one of its floors.

‘If adventurers came here they could starve to death if they weren’t careful but…’ Was that really the goal? Was all the dungeon thought of to protect itself and nothing more? From what Ed learned that did seem to be the case.

All if not most of the actions of the dungeons could only be explained on the basis that they were done with self-preservation as the goal.

While Ed did not personally endorse such behavior, he couldn’t really blame the dungeon either. This was something he believed before and even after seeing this now he still believed it might be true.

‘I should check out what’s beyond the walls’ Maybe whatever he saw there would succeed in changing his mind. Could the creator’s harsh treatment of its creations be justified? What a controversial question…

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