Published at 29th of July 2022 8:58 am

Chapter 485 - Trip Forward

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It was early morning in the marshlands, it made sense that all the lizardmen were spirited. But they were also looking forward to the future, which was not something a night of good rest necessarily provided.

While Var Agus arranged for escorts, Ed made sure to create a new blood clot warrior. This was what had these lizardmen so hopeful. There were many lizardmen so none of these spirited lizardmen were chosen. They did look forward to the day they might be chosen, however.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like the mushroom god planned to mass-produce divine blood warriors just yet. This selection was merely for a replacement. The previous divine blood warrior of bat perished so a vacancy was open.

Having learned of the potential dangerous urges the lizardmen received from the blood clots, there was a twist to the new blood clot for the lucky chosen one.

Ed had split himself anew and put A back into his blood clot body. But instead of putting him back in a puppet, he placed him inside a lizardman warrior. How the warrior was selected was through simple sparring.

They couldn’t make the entire tribe spar against one another however as that would be too time-consuming. Just like last time you had to be among Var Agus’ choices to participate in the spar.

This set up a scary precedence for the other tribe leader refugees which they failed to recognize until this moment…

We need to have our men suck up to Var Agus as much as possible!!!

If they didn’t do that Var Agus might very well keep on selecting his own people. This would put their revived tribes at the bottom of the pyramid which was no good for anyone with even the most basic of ambitions.

Regardless of their thoughts, however, the final choice did end up being one of Var’s confidants..ᴄᴏᴍ

Yoashk.

He was both a warrior and a messenger making him fit to carry the mushroom god. He knew to carry messages to Var Agus after all. The two things were practically the same job. Having won the simple series of spars as well his combat strength was proven.

Plus with A inside of him, Ed didn’t fear that any incident may arise. There were so many factors that made Yoashk trustworthy.

After the birth of a new divine blood warrior, it became time for all of them to depart. The sparring and preparations were all done above ground so everyone was waiting patiently at the mushroom cavern’s entrance.

“Are you all ready?!” Var Agus shouted at the entrance of the cavern.

“YEAH!!” “WOO!!!” “AYE, I’m ready!!” There were all sorts of people among the crowd, including a pirate, apparently. While another just seemed out of place.

While the disorder did not inspire confidence, Var Agus could only lament the suddenness of the mushroom god’s request and allow them to set off anyway.

“Take care of the mushroom god, even if it means laying down your life” He declared solemnly. The previous cheer instantly dissipated from the atmosphere as a hidden tension enveloped everyone including the onlookers.

This was a trip where they were to carry the mushroom god! No mishaps could be allowed!

As it turned out Var Agus did not teach the lizardmen to think like a collective, but he did teach them to read the atmosphere. They knew when it was time to be serious.

“Good, I leave it to you all then” Var said with a smile

As the group marched off into the caverns, Var had to come to terms with the fact that their numbers weren’t great. Originally most of the participants were divine blood warriors, he thought it unsafe however and tacked on other regular warriors.

In exchange, Ed saw it fitting to return two of the divine blood warriors. The tribes couldn’t be left with zero protection either.

But even after these exchanges, the group was small enough to not be a threat to Sanctuary. This wasn’t something Var considered but Ed did have it in mind. This was going to be his first visit to Sanctuary in a body which looked umm, less than reliable.

Since he couldn’t muster great strength to defend them in an emergency, it was better to make his group seem nonthreatening and amicable.

‘I’ve already told them my circumstances but…’ Ed wasn’t sure if these lizardmen would be able to adjust well enough to the personalities of the orc. Differences in culture and belief could lead to conflict.

‘Let’s hope Reid will reel the lizardmen in if anything’ As the head of tourism he seemed to have adapted to Sanctuary more than well enough.

The route to the former ogre’s cavern was rather straightforward. There weren’t any large changes in elevation and apart from some individually strong mobs there was nothing they couldn’t handle with ease while working in a group so there were also no detours. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

Not just that, but the vegetation and mushrooms on the way were a treat for the eyes so the atmosphere was rather pleasant.

‘I wonder how the dungeon feels about this’ There had only been one instance where he died in the wrong floor. The dungeon didn’t seem to mind it too much all things considered.

‘Not that I plan on dying’ Still it was good to think of all possibilities before taking any amount of risk.

While Ed planned and considered possibilities, the group continued to press forward seamlessly.

***

In the obscure corridors of the crypt, a lone adventurer was attacking plain old skeletons with an expression of glee. She didn’t know why, but she felt stronger!

Currently, her crappy sword was making quick work of the skeletons. It was just too bad that these skeletons couldn’t give her any money. She hadn’t found anything of value up until now either.

W who was boosting her strength was partly responsible for this. In his search to train her he ended up avoiding all the dangerous spots with modified skeletons as well as traps and puzzles.

Sometimes running into the traps was inevitable but he would still manipulate the adventurer in a way that made her barely escape unscathed. Her continued survival was bolstering her confidence, and this in turn allowed her to face these skeletons without fear.

While she did continue to hold some apprehension, the feeling of constant improvement brought her instant gratification just like a game might. This dopamine prevented her from harboring any other feelings of leaving the dungeon.

Earlier while in the safe room she had considered it but before she could turn back and leave from whence she came, her legs were already moving towards the safe room’s exit.

Petrified by the feeling of losing control, she wanted to call for help but also found herself unable to make a sound. It was as though she had lost the ability entirely and only after she left the safe room did her control return.

Fearing that she might be allergic to the safe room, given that she had no idea how they worked, she pressed forward with terror. From there on the rest was her slow gain of confidence and experience that led to the present.

W and the adventurer girl had passed the destroyed safe room by this point and the adventurer was finally getting tired. Not having encountered any skeletons for at least a good hour, the dopamine ended up leaving her body.

All she wanted now was to lay down and rest next to a wall.

‘This girl can’t be this stupid, right?’ Had she not slept for a couple of days? Why was she suddenly feeling so exhausted and worn?

‘I guess I might have pushed her too much’ Considering the scary experiences she went through it was actually a miracle that she lasted as long as she had in the dungeon. Needless to say, her willpower was rather strong.

She ended up falling asleep inside the dimly lit large room they were crossing.

‘I guess I won’t wake her up’ He could just keep an eye out for things while she dozed. Before he was using sixth sense to try and spot where the skeletons were and given them instructions through transmission.

Using the spiritual mark he had with Ed he could also tell whether they were moving forward or advancing. That would suffice when it came to deciphering whether he needed to control the girl’s body or not.

‘I should have done something like this before’ His sixth sense couldn’t compare to Bloody’s blood sense but it still had its usefulness. The extremely limited range of sixth sense was a major drawback when one was blind.

Which was why W went ahead and controlled one of the girl’s eyes as she slept. For any onlookers this would be an extremely creepy find.

A girl slumped against a wall wearing ragged clothing with one eye open and looking around… If this wasn’t a zombie or some new type of monster then what was it?

Luckily there were no intruders for a good hour or two and eventually, the girl did wake up. Her eye felt weird for only a moment before she regained her vision and stood up looking confused.

“Ah! I’m still in the dungeon!” She was quickly frightened after realizing how careless she had been. It was here when a skeleton wearing an earthen robe coincidentally entered the room and locked eyes with the adventurer.

Her first instinct was to shrink back in fear but after thinking for a short moment she decided that facing a single-robed skeleton might be a good way to challenge herself.

She brought out her blade and held it firmly.

It was then that hordes of white skeletons passed by the robed skeleton and started charging towards her location. She now knew why the place was free of skeletons.

“Ah….” The grip on her sword loosened from stupefaction before she suddenly regained her wits and sprinted off without a second thought. But these white skeletons and the robed skeleton would certainly not relent.

This wasn’t this mage skeleton’s first hunt.

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