Duma quickly covered himself. His clothes were strewn about the room so he didn't have to search long. Duma swallowed dryly and secretly prayed for his safety after noticing that Ed was making sure he didn't do anything funny.
The last thing he wanted to do was take part in another alliance considering how well the previous one had gone. But unfortunately, it didn't seem like he would have much of a choice.
They then quietly made their way outside the room were Ed took the liberty to introduce himself.
"Alright then, I'll introduce myself first, My name is Ed. Nice to meet you" Ed said amicably. His face however clearly expressed his irritation towards Duma.
"I'm Duma, the greatest axe wielder in these v-vast lands..." Duma had gone back to his proud facade by habit after being released from the death grip. His tone however quickly simmered down after he noticed Ed's cold stare.
"N-nice to meet you! My pleasure! To meet... Ahem. Yes. Nice." The room was then covered by an awkward silence.
Duma could only hope that the girl in his bed didn't wake up at such a time. Ignoring that his standing in the girl's eye would fall, His position in the tribe would quickly plummet if anyone found out. It was thus a loss of face he couldn't afford after losing over 100 warriors in his previous battle.
'This guy is a riot' Ed thought inwardly as he watched Duma fumbling his words. He didn't mention it however and simply restarted the conversation.
"The terms of the alliance are rather simple, you just have to provide some manpower. There is a dangerous group of people that need to be dealt with and I recalled that you and your tribe were very capable warriors. I think you guys would be perfect for the job" Maybe it was his new eloquence skill but Ed's words were completely b*llshit.
The persuasiveness effect didn't seem to have had worked however as Duma showed no signs of being convinced. As a matter of fact, he was still frightened and therefore didn't immediately respond until Ed was about to say something.
"Ca-Can you." Duma let out a couple of coughs to hide his fear and began to talk normally for a change, "Can you tell me what the dangerous people are?" He asked carefully hoping to find out what he was being coerced into doing.
Well, it was also to sate his curiosity. Although Ed's tribe was indeed weakened after their fight it shouldn't be to the point of asking others for help against other orcs. The other option would be a goblin uprising and the notion alone was completely laughable.
Plus, if they were in such a dire situation he found it odd that they would choose to force him into an alliance. They could have instead tried to go under another tribe for example. Although most probably wouldn't agree unless they were in a similar state to their angakok tribe and in need of people.
"They are a strong group of seasoned warriors, some at least as strong as myself. It is a real threat" Although Ed had snuck into his house and choked Duma nearly to death he still hoped to convince him. At least that way he wouldn't have to be afraid of them going back on their words.
Duma wasn't a great village chief, rather than looking out for others he would look out for himself. Ed's words seemed fairly vague but if the enemy's strength was truly as Ed had said then the chances of him and his tribe perishing were very high.
In that case, he may as well allow his tribesmen a fighting chance by allying with Ed. Duma convinced himself that this was indeed the right choice even going as far as nodding to himself resolutely.
"hahaha, if the trouble is that great then I must of course offer a helping hand!" Duma went back to his friendly and brave facade, he didn't even think about the fact that he had just sold out his tribe for his own safety. It was for a good cause after all.
"That's great then. I will come back at a later date, I hope you won't renege on your decision, there are consequences to one's actions after all." Ed said simply although he was praising himself internally for sounding so cool.
His words seemed to have an effect as Duma remembered how Ed managed to sneak inside and almost kill him in his sleep. He couldn't but feel a cold chill down his spine.
"If possible I would appreciate it if you can spread the word. The more the merrier." Ed then said some amicable final words and left the cabin. Duma could only awkwardly reciprocate.
Ed stuck around for a good minute for insurance until he was sure that Duma wasn't going to do anything.
'After I visit the caverns I will come to get their help' Ed thought as he snuck out of the camp the same way he came in.
While this wasn't the best way to unite all of the orcs on this floor of the dungeon he also wasn't an expert in diplomacy. His time was better spent honing his skills. Still, it was a shame. The orcs would probably make a larger difference than the skeletons did in the past.
'They aren't that simple to manipulate though' Ed followed the path back until he met the landmark he had left behind. He then continued towards the direction it pointed to.
The thick canopy drastically lowered the visibility as he continued to walk further into the forest. Ed felt incredibly uncomfortable due to the incredibly still forest. Apart from the sound of his own footsteps, nothing could be heard in the entire vicinity.
'This dungeon sure likes to keep things creepy' The crypt was still much more creepy but the thick forest could only be described as unsettling.
'It reminds me of something...' Ed tried his best to recall where he had seen a similar atmosphere. Until it finally hit him, wasn't the still silence incredibly similar to his dream?
'Was my dream related to the dungeon?' The only thing to do in the deathly silent forest was to sink into one's own thoughts and contemplate. Nonetheless, Ed couldn't figure anything out with the alone time he was given.
'There is no heavy fog here' He couldn't help but deny the notion. In the first place, the dream had occurred following his level up.
'It was after the system link skill...' It became clear as day for Ed that the dream was almost certainly somehow related to the system. Still, there was no point in thinking about that now. Ed continued to walk in the darkness.
Hours passed until Ed finally caught a shimmer of light.
'Green light?' Ed narrowed his eyes as he looked at the distant glimmer. It actually looked a bit closer to cyan.
There was no point in deliberating from a distance so Ed ran closer until he caught sight of a rocky exterior. The darkness had worked in tandem with the thick canopy to hide the giant mountain from Ed.
'Is that a plant?' The shine came from a herb-like plant that was growing outside of the cave, it really looked quite mystical.
[Glowing herb]
It might hold healing properties.
'Nice, I might be able to give this to Vorgarag to see if he can make any potions.' Ed took a few more glances at the herb unaware of what the best way to pick it might be until he settled for simply sending it into the storage room.
Ed took a quick glance around and caught sight of other cyan shimmers around the vicinity. He decided he would take care of that later and walked into the cave. At first, it was surprisingly dark but after turning a corner he was shocked.
This was a true light show. As soon as Ed came in he saw all sorts of multi-color dazzling lights illuminate the blueish cavern. The mana in the environment was also incomparably rich to the one in the secret room.
'Red, Brown, Green, Blue, Transparent? Maroon?' Ed had at first recognized the crystals but his expression turned odd as he saw different crystal colors all emitting their own brilliant light.
'This is definitely the source, I wonder why Vorgarag's ancestor didn't take any of these other crystals...' There were clearly more than just the four primary elements in there so he found it odd that they would settle for just four.
But there was something much more shocking. Ed looked past the crystals, he looked further in and couldn't help but feel strong pressure from the depths of the cavern.
'Is there really a monster inside?' Ed wasn't scared he just found it odd unless...?
'It must be the boss.' The pressure he felt was similar to the pressure whenever he opened the gate to the lich's room.
Ed thought he had figured it out but that was also a strange answer. Were there bosses in back to back floors or did the dungeon spawn him deeper in than he had initially anticipated?
'I won't get anywhere by standing around, I still need to find the knowledge as well.' Ed ignored the strong pressure that fell upon him and continued to venture deeper into the cave.