In the mushroom caverns, the situation created by the delegate died down rather quickly. The delegate didn't die, the blessed lizardwoman, Crini, was forced to back down by Var Agus.
Killing the ssenger was a clear declaration of war. Var Agus was not willing to take the risk quite yet. Of course, that didn't an they let the delegate get off scot-free. They interrogated him and arguably even tortured the lizardman.
"STOP! STOP!! AARGH!! HAHAHAAHA!" They used both pain and tickles to get him talking. Through this thod, they learned of the real reason they received an ultimatum.
Kurgher and his tribe were going to face the hydra god… Var Agus couldn't possibly allow this to happen! He would fight them to the bitter end if it was necessary, but the hydra could not be hard!
"They are trying to kill themselves" Var Agus grumbled while in his ho. Fighting a hydra? It would be a good result if they only lost half of their numbers. As the previous shaman of the tribe, Var Agus did not want to see that happen.
He was starting to hatch up plans to stop them, but ultimately realized there was no way to stop them. Kurgher was already in on it based on the ssenger, and he would be acting under orders of their deity, Eon.
Facing Eon was impossible for them.
For them. Var now had an idea...
The mushroom god might even the odds, but at the sa ti…
"They are bound to this cavern" The mushroom deity's combat powers was also rather admittedly weak when compared to Eon. The chances of winning were slim even with their help.
Still, compared to sitting around and doing nothing, this was the plan with the best chance.
Ed was at the mont expanding and growing his field of shrooms when he spotted the arrival of Var Agus. The glowing path had actually inford him long before, but only now that he was physically present did Ed pay him any mind.
'Welco' Ed transmitted to Var Agus. The latter solemnly knelt. Ed was going to acknowledge his respect when suddenly, a ssage appeared.
[Transmission has leveled up]
'Finally!' Ed thought excitedly, Var Agus ca at just the right ti!
[Transmission has t the conditions to advance, Advance Transmission Skill? Y/N]
Ed originally wanted to pay attention to what Var would say, but he couldn't understand anything anyway.
'Yes!' He therefore didn't hesitate to agree on the spot.
[ is in effect]
With the significantly higher level of the system link skill, it was a given for Ed to be given a few options. He was looking forward to it!
[Choose the path of advancent]
[(Basic) Advanced Transmission - Range and effectiveness greatly increased, allows for easier inference]
[(rare) Telepathic Communication - Form a connection where both parties can communicate with one another]
[(special) Link - Links body and mind of skill holder and target, allowing for transmission of all manner of immaterial things]
Inspecting the 3 skills, Ed automatically removed advanced transmission from the possible options. The other two skills were simply that great.
'The two-way communication would co in handy…' Even at this very mont, Var Agus was trying to speak to him. If they could both just communicate ntally, not only would the conversation be private… but they could both understand each other.
As for the next skill…
'Link' Ed actually believed it to be the better one. Link made the advanced transmission useless because immaterial things also included thought. As for the telepathic communication… Its effect was not guaranteed to be included, but Ed did suspect it was also included.
Even with or without these things, Ed believed that link was both the better and the smarter choice. Judging solely on the breadth 1of functionality, link had the most potential!
[ has advanced to ]
Ed was satisfied after seeing this notice, his mood was significantly better than just a few monts ago. He had to be brought back to reality eventually, however.
Var Agus' pleading voice did the trick. Ed, who had been distracted, obviously couldn't possibly know what Var Agus just said though.
While he could ask it to repeat... that was entirely pointless. There was only one real option.
'Ti to test it' Ed thought before activating the newly advanced skill. In that instant, he felt sothing different.
When using transmission, Ed would not feel anything different, it was just thinking. But with link… the mont he activated it, he felt he was missing a part of himself!
Var Agus who was waiting or an answer also faintly felt that sothing was missing. He didn't like the feeling, he needed his second half!
Within less than a second, Ed and Var Agus found each other. A faint link was ford between the two of them. It reminded Ed of the spiritual mark, but this feeling went a bit deeper.
How was he to describe it?
All the mushrooms in Ed's field were linked to him through the mycelium network, and Var Agus seed to fit right in. Did that an that Var Agus could potentially access this network?
Maybe. Maybe not. But first was getting the thoughts down.
'Var, please repeat that with your mind' Ed transmitted, no, linked, to Var Agus who was puzzled. He felt a weird closeness to the mushroom deity now, which he couldn't explain on his own.
Fortunately, the deity's words had given him a huge clue this ti!
'Of course! Please help us deal with the hydra and Eon!' Var begged, though ti ntally. This only helped his true feelings on the situation ooze through the bond he just ford with Ed.
'The hydra and Eon…!' Ed thought to himself with a bit of shock. He had received back the ssage! This skill was indeed the better one!
Back to the actual ssage, though, there were a few key points. One, there was a hydra, two, Eon was sohow in the mix!
'How co he didn't ntion this in front of W?' Ed now knew why Eon stayed in this floor, it was the hydra. But if that was true, why was he taking so long? Ed felt that for the brief period that W stayed with Eon, he should have at least made preparations for the fight.
'Wait... There were preparations' The lizardn were equipped with enchanted weapons and their skills have improved thanks to the nsch tribe's conquest of the current floor. Overall, the lizardn had grown much stronger after his visit.
But that still begged one question, could this team win against a hydra? Ed was not confident that they would win considering Eon's sickly stage. That said, Eon had to be confident if he was insistent on training them.
'That old man surely didn't reveal all his hands' The black hole he used was very intimidating, but it was also too slow to hit anyone under normal circumstances. The sage of space had to have other powerful but not so overbearing spells.
'I will help' Ed transmitted to Var Agus who was instantly elated. This was a big gain!
'But my help is limited' He was a mushroom. How could he fight a distant battle?
The only thing Ed could help with was resources and strategy. Out of these two things, the lizardn would probably just ask for his resources.
'Any help is enough!!!' Even if the mushroom deity just appeared sohow during battle and raised the morale of the others, he would be happy! The odds of that were slim since the mushrooms couldn't just uproot themselves and run into battle, but…
'Is it possible to have my mushrooms uproot themselves and run into battle?' Ed asked himself, he pondered on how he could assist in the war efforts. He told Var Agus the help was limited, but the limitations were self-imposed.
His mushrooms were not weak, but when compared against a hydra they most certainly were. This was the limit a couple of upgrades might make a difference. But that was actually unnecessary on further thought. The target for Ed was not the hydra, but Eon. Intercepting the lizardn that counted as his force was enough to put him at risk when facing the hydra.
There was still the issue of what form this interference would take. The blood clot lizard warriors might suffice, but figuring out a way to get mushrooms there was not a half bad idea. But although Ed made a mushroom that could fly, mass-producing uproot shrooms at this stage in the ga seed unlikely. Not to ntion many of the shrooms would not make it through the treacherous swamp.
'This calls for an upgrade in technology' Now that they could communicate, Ed wanted to make use of the waters and his mushroom farms to transport war material.
'Your divinity, I will return after informing the others in the tribe' Var Agus said. His true intention was however to ask for so suggestions on ways Ed could help them. The link skill was rather handy.
Ed sent him an affirmative ssage and watched Var retreat towards his tribe.
'It's about ti for to check on the orcs…' The problem with that was the battle he had just promised to help in.
'This is what the dungeon wants' Ed convinced himself and decided to imdiately get to work. But first, he would need to go through his mind and find so useful technology.
Right off the bat, they would need boats for transportation and maybe even cannons to make ships. He had already made cannons for the orcs, so making ones for the lizardn was a piece of cake.
Eon probably believed he had an advantage in terms of equipnt, but though his enchantnts were impressive, they couldn't compare to the crazy ideas in Ed's head. If ti allowed it, the nsch tribe's future looked grim.
Far away, deep in the marsh, the hydra was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the many plots against its persons. It was also unaware of the mushroom ally that was racking its brain to save it.
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