17 Assimilation
Ed finished gathering all the useful things the dead bodies had left behind. There were things that even if he thought useful he couldn't take, like the greatsword.
'I guess I'm off then...'
He looked back at the lich that was still releasing a sense of foreboding. It was clearly resting as the purple flames could not be seen.
Ed decided to stop imposing himself upon the lich and headed for the door. It opened up as soon as he neared it.
He looked back and saw that the lich was still somehow watching him.
'Creepy bastard...'
Looking at the lich gave him goosebumps ever since he saw its fight. That being the case he wasted no time leaving. He only felt safe after the door slammed close behind him.
'I better get some more friends'
His skeleton squad was pretty much useless in battle but they still helped him get away.
'Poor Kenny...'
He wasn't feeling sad about it but it still hurt him to use such a loyal skeleton as cannon fodder.
'Let's train some skills before that though'
He pulled out his new set of daggers. He had four in total and walked into one of the merging corridors. He didn't know where it went but he needed suitable targets.
He ended up in a dining hall. There was a small horde of zombies to be found roaming around.
'This is the first time I've seen them in a horde'
He didn't pay much attention to it.
'They make good targets'
He didn't know if zombies had more intelligence than skeletons, but he knew they never paid him any respect.
'It must be because I am a different type of mob'
He stood a fair distance from one of his targets and prepared to launch the dagger at its neck from behind.
Ed didn't feel bad, the way he saw it, if nobody stopped him then it was allowed. As the system never warned him or mentioned a penalty he didn't hesitate.
The dagger zoomed through the air and hit the zombie's nape accurately.
'This is pretty good'
It felt no different than hurling stones but the speed of the dagger was much faster. The zombie, who now had a dagger attached to the back of its neck continued walking without a care.
'Well... if he doesn't mind'
He threw another dagger aiming at the hilt of the previous dagger. His intention was to drive the dagger further in.
The other dagger hit the edge of the hilt rather than the center. The force was still enough to lop off the head of the zombie, the zombie's body collapsed shortly after losing its head.
[Adept throwing has leveled up]
The assimilation skill was doing its job properly. Although it might also be attributed to the use of daggers instead of stones for practice. Maybe it was also because he used a "live" target.
'Speaking of which, it has a second function'
He went to pick up his daggers which fell to the floor and got curious.
'It can assimilate items or skills'
He held onto the dagger firmly and focused on activating his assimilation skill.
'Will my hands turn into a dagger or something'
He scoffed at the idea. Suddenly the dagger started to vibrate violently before promptly disappearing.
[Assimilation on cooldown]
[Constitution +1]
[Strength +1]
'Eh?'
He didn't expect that assimilating items would increase his attributes.
'Status!'
[Name: Ed$#&!]
Type: Skeleton
Health: 300/300
Strength: 1
Agility: 0
Constitution: 2
Dexterity: 2
~Skills:~
[Adept Throwing lvl. 1] -Show info-
[Swordsmanship lvl. -1] -Show info-
[Hoarding lvl. 6] -Show info-
[Mental Fortitude lvl. 2] -Show info-
[Basic Transmission Lvl. 7] -Show info-
[Minor Explosion Resistance lvl. 0] -Show info-
[Deduction lvl. 5] -Show info-
[Assimilation lvl. 0] -Show info-
[Thought Manifestation lvl. 0] -show info-
~Achievements~
[First Kill] -Show info-
His health increased by 100 on his skeleton body. Seeing that most of his attributes were not at 0 anymore made him feel like he was making progress.
'This is a great skill!'
If only it didn't have such a long cooldown! He finally felt like forgiving the system for not giving him pain resistance that one time.
'No, I actually won't forgive it'
He couldn't let the system or dungeon off for bringing him here. He also wouldn't be bought off by nice treats.
'You will have to try harder, like making me really overpowered'
The system didn't respond. Not that he expected it to.
'It was worth trying...'
He shifted his focus to his skills again. He wanted to take the opportunity to advance them while waiting for the 12-hour cooldown to end.
***
Samuel entered his office and opened one of the drawers on his desk. He pulled out a folder full of adventurer data and sat down on his chair.
He paged through it quickly and stopped after reaching the B class adventurers. He was looking at which B class adventurers were native to Arbor town. He was hoping one of them was nearby.
Jasmine stood by the door watching Samuel look for information.
"Sir... You know that all of the high ranking natives moved out long ago."
Samuel looked up at her and then closed the folder and let out a sigh. He knew that was likely the case, but he was still hopeful.
"So there are no B class adventurers in Arbor town?" Samuel asked his secretary.
"You know they have no business here"
There weren't any mid-level or high-level dungeons nearby so B-class adventurers had no business in Arbor town. Natives might come back to their home town after achieving success but it was also unlikely. After experiencing a life of riches who would return to some backwoods town?
Samuel stood up from his seat and walked towards a sword hanging on the office wall.
"What are you doing sir!?!" Jasmine was stunned, did he plan to go into the dungeon himself!?
"I am going into the dungeon" Samuel calmly replied as he grabbed his sword.
"You told your wife you would be back in an hour or two! You can't enter a dungeon without any preparations either!" Jasmine would not allow him to leave.
"The scouts could be waiting for me"
There was a bout of silence as Jasmine and Samuel looked at each other. They both knew that was probably not the case, they just wouldn't dare say it.
"Sir please calm down, we can probably organize a full party of C-class adventurers to go in your stead"
Samuel was still holding his sword and its sheathe which he also grabbed while he thought.
"We can also send a request to the Union headquarter or create a quest for some freelance B-class adventurer."
Samuel unwillingly assented, he sheathed his sword and placed it aside. He sat down on his chair and leaned back.
"I trained them up you know?" He said as he sent a glance to Jasmine.
"I know sir" She had a solemn look.
"We can't underestimate the danger anymore, I will give you a week to send a clearing team. If they fail I will personally take action." He was still leaning back.
"I understand" Jasmine bowed and left Samuel to his own devices. She somehow managed to stop the renowned magic swordsman from taking personal action.
