"Damn..." Samuel still couldn't get over what happened. He stood alone inside of the vast room angrily gripping his sword.
Samuel felt guilty, the adventurers he brought along were dead. How could he explain himself? He couldn't, there was no justification for the loss in Samuel's eyes. Most would say that the enemy inside was simply beyond expectations but Samuel wouldn't dare think that way, there was no excuse for the loss of human life.
Samuel let out one final curse word before finally heaving a heavy sigh and loosening the grip on his blade. There was no way to change the past, so he only needed to prevent something like this from happening again. He would change the future, he would get stronger.
He lifted his trusty sword and inspected it, the wear of battle was clearly evident. He had found it inside of a dungeon many years ago, it was a great blade but he couldn't keep counting on the same strength.
He sheathed the sword and took a glance at where the corpses of his allies used to be. Samuel was shocked to see them gone.
"You gobbled them up as you left huh?" He believed it had something to do with the lich's spell.
As if it wasn't bad enough that they died, now Samuel had no body to give to family members. The sorrow he felt couldn't be described and his burden increased tenfold. With heavy steps, Samuel decided pick up the most important looking belongings of the dead adventurers before heading out of the room.
"I hope these can make up for it even if only slightly..." Samuel muttered while holding the accessories he grasped.
Samuel stood up and walked towards the gate. Once outside the gate, he saw the corpses of the first two adventurers. The special material that the Union made had truly kept their bodies safe. Samuel didn't know what to do with them anymore.
'Do I carry them?' Putting aside that Samuel was exhausted, it didn't feel right to drag their bodies.
'But I also can't leave them...' Samuel was stuck in a dilemma.
Samuel's face held a deep frown as he neared the carefully wrapped bodies. This had to be the worst experience he had in years. His recent safety and peace had made him forget about what being an adventurer was truly like.
'I... I definitely need to change this' Samuel thought about the young man who had sacrificed himself for him, if there were opportunities for people like him they wouldn't try to partake in such a dangerous job, right?
Samuel could only mock himself internally, he was blind. Why did he join the Union? To better the lives of young adventurers was it not? So why was he stuck in some backwoods town idling away!!! Did he have no resolve?!? His actions were restricted by his position or at least that was what he used to think.
'I will do better' It was a statement that held no doubt. From now on no matter what the Union said he would change things.
Samuel decided to carry both corpses outside the dungeon, it was a test he placed upon himself. He wanted to test his resolve. Samuel could have dragged them out due to his exhausted body but no. Samuel heaved both corpses atop his shoulders. For a magic swordsman like himself, this would normally be nothing. Samuel however, weaved side to side occasionally as he made his way out, his tiredness could not be so easily overcome. Still, he didn't dare drop them.
He encountered skeletons which he defeated with his slowly recovering mana, Samuel bulldozed through the low-level minions while making his way out. He sometimes used the meager amount of recovered mana to soothe his sore muscles. Samuel didn't even stop at any safe rooms, he took short breathers here and there but none longer than five minutes.
After hours of manual labor, Samuel finally got out.
***
Blinding.
That was Ed's first impression after he woke up. It was at the point that Ed needed to block the rays of light using his hands. Ed then realized this was abnormal...
'These aren't the hands I am used to...' Maybe this is what people called jetlag as Ed only now apprehended something was wrong. He tried to hastily stand up and examine his body when he received a message.
[Champion's attributes have been boosted]
'Huh?' Ed was quite naturally confused by the system's alert this time.
Ed quickly shook away any thoughts. He needed to find out what happened first and the easiest way was to see his status.
[Name: Edw#&!]
Type: Orc
Health: 500/500
Vitality: 1
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Constitution: 1
Dexterity: 1
Mana: 10
~Skills~
[Transmission lvl. 1] -Show info-
[Mental Fortitude lvl. 3] -Show info-
[Deduction lvl. 7] -Show info-
[Assimilation lvl. 3] -Show info-
[Thought Manifestation lvl. 0] -Show info-
[Language lvl. 1] -Show info-
[???] -Show info-
~Achievements~
[First Kill] -Show info-
[Apprentice Magician] -Show info-
An Orc, an unruly species of monsters. He could have probably found that much out without the status. the first thing Ed had seen was naturally his own hand, had it not been for the message he would have continued to inspect it and eventually come to a similar conjecture.
'Just like that one game...' Ed thought as he looked at his new appearance.
Tusks, green skin, large bodies, he was definitely a classic orc of fantasy. Oddly enough he wasn't averse to the change. Reason being...
'Hahaha! I can feel things again!' Ed rejoiced while feeling the soft grass under his feet.
Ed felt anything was better than the unfeeling body of a skeleton. Although he also had no discomfort due to the lack of feeling, he had no comfort either. It was a trade that he was completely against.
'The happy moments make the painful ones worth living' Ed thought that something similar could be applied to this whole feeling ordeal.
After getting over the feeling of grass and the occasional wind on his face Ed then started to look around. As far as he could tell he was in a vast plain. The green plains seemed quite tranquil. The tall grass moving in the wind, the bright rays of sunshine. It also had no structures to speak of, maybe an occasional tree. Overall, the place felt rather empty.
'Wait... are the floors of a dungeon a sphere?' Ed couldn't help but think to himself as he looked over the horizon. If it was flat he would surely be able to spot monsters or something of the sort right?
'Where the hell did you drop me dungeon?' Ed was confused by the turn of events. How was he summoned before the timer and to such a peaceful place to boot? He expected to fight against the adventurers or something.
The real issue was that the place seemed so peaceful. Ed could not fathom why there was a sunny and grassy plain inside the dungeon. And wasn't it an undead dungeon in the first place??? Ed was truly puzzled but he would never be able to understand how the dungeon thought.
'I should move on to other things...' He took a quick few glances around himself only to curse inwardly.
'My stuff!!! Where is it!?!' Ed felt to his knees in dismay, what if he lost his precious books?
No, an even bigger issue was that his skills had not transferred over. He had spent so much effort leveling up his other skills only to lose them on the dungeons whim, how cruel!
[Champion can more easily learn skills that had been previously acquired]
The message still didn't comfort Ed, if he kept changing bodies every now and then he would just feel like giving up entirely. The only solace was that his mental skills seem to be a permanent addition.
'That makes sense though...' He was a consciousness being after all.
Ed decided to think about a way to get his books back after finding some semblance of life. Even if the place was arguably beautiful if it had no living things he just might go insane. Not everyone could tolerate being alone.
'...How many friends did I have?' His memories had become clearer but for some reason, his social life was a blank.
Ed dismissed the thoughts soon after, it was a waste of time to keep thinking about those sorts of matters. Plus, the issue of his memories was something that he could solve in the future, and the quickest way was to grow his consciousness.
'In that case...' Ed looked out into the horizon, he needed to start exploring.
Just like he had done in the undead part of the dungeon, Ed needed to understand this new floor. He needed to uncover its resources in order to make effective plans whenever the time came.
'Let's get to it then' He had a bitter smile that seemed kind of brutal on his orcish face.
Ed began to walk inside of his new unfamiliar body, his direction unclear.. The only thing he was sure of was that his lazy life would probably never come.