Chapter 452: Center of Attention

At this moment, Ed was inspecting the pile of loot left behind by other adventurers.

[Robe of Starlets]

'What diva wore such a thing to a dungeon-' Ed stopped his thoughts containing some mockery immediately after he saw the assessment of the robe.

{ Assists in the compression of mana as a way to reduce space related spells' mana consumption }

'Eh, isn't this just my robe of stars?' The effects of the item weren't bad… the color was perhaps a bit gaudy but…

[Meteor Robe]

{ Assists in the manipulation of earth and fire elements. Greatly reduces consumption of mana in earthen spells }

'Phew, I wouldn't want to wear the robe of starlets' As a gamer that only wanted the best gear, the robe of starlets was a robe to fear. It was equipment he would be forced to wear even against his better- no, worse judgment! Better judgment advocated was advocating he wore it!

The meteor robe was a nice alternative that boosted fire and earth. With that out of the way, Ed moved on to finding other equipment to complement his marvelous body parts.

[Earthen Rod]

{ A common A class staff that seamlessly transfers earthen mana }

The earthen rod was literally a rod of earth, Ed was embarrassed to call it a magic staff. So he kept searching for more good stuff and his final yield was…

[Rocky Boots]

[Spatial Ring]

[Chainmail Robe]

These were the items Ed decided to keep on his person alongside the meteor robe. The chainmail robe could protect Ed against sharp weapons better than a regular old robe could.

'The meteor robe is magic but…' Ultimately it was still a fabric and could not compare to thick chains.

After getting what he wanted, Ed stored away all the items. The system space was starting to get a bit crowded again but Ed felt it didn't need any immediate upgrade.

Instead of doing that, Ed entered the system space and instructed the spirit worker and smith to restore the equipment he didn't like into magical ores or parts.

Of course, Ed didn't smelt all the things in the pile into metal. Just because the items weren't good enough for him, it didn't mean they weren't good enough for anybody. Some orcs, maybe even the skeletons, could benefit greatly from the equipment they collected.

Most importantly however the adventurer's equipment was the easiest and best way to restock the loot.

'Hm, I wonder if anyone has gotten into trouble like that yet' What were the odds that someone recognized the armor he rewarded and mistook the rewarded with stealing it? The odds were low but not low enough that it hadn't yet happened.

'Sorry random adventurer!' Ed lamented that had the unfortunate individual simply died in the dungeon instead of making off with his loot they wouldn't have been suspected. What a poor potential lad.

While Ed lamented that the innocence of a perhaps non-existent man was put into question, he didn't forget to relay some instructions to his anti-skeletons.

'You will receive an upgraded consciousness from me' Ed told the skeletons through his command sub-skill. This was an order so Ed didn't need transmission.

'Although the range of command has now fallen significantly' The transmission command combo was a neat thing he unfortunately lost.

The anti-skeletons who heard Ed's command had no reason to try and refuse. They all simply knelt solemnly to demonstrate their gratefulness and understanding. Currently, they were all gathered just outside of Ed's temple.

'You will all participate in a tournament then, the named will get consciousness upgrades, the unnamed will get a name' Ed instantly came up with reward criteria and set up a tournament. As usual, time was money.

Although Ed appreciated the anti-skeletons and they were dear to him, they still couldn't eat away at his time. A tournament to show off their strengths was the way to go.

Due to the larger amount of anti-skeletons however a 1v1 format wouldn't work. Ed opted for a free for all between a maximum of 4 skeletons.

'First, Gold, and… you three over there' Ed started by randomly picking names. He put every skeleton into a group.

That included Brutus who… was showing off to Callow? The mace wielding brute was making gloating gestures while the naive Callow took notes. It was like a younger brother that wanted to take after their older brother.

Ed shook his head.

'Let's see…' Within a matter of minutes, many anti-skeleton groups ended their battles.

'Hm?' The water magic crystal skeleton, Drench, lost his group battle to a nobody.

'A dark horse maybe?' Ed continued to watch, the second round of battles soon came.

In a fantastic turn of events, Prairie and Settler battled it off to be the last one standing in their group. Their swords clashed many times causing blinding sparks. The eerie black skeletons remained unflinching, however.

Finally, a sword fell to the ground with a clang. A fire burned inside of Settler's eyes, they had lost.

Ed was focused rather intently on that battle so he ended up missing the climax of many others. Regardless, the results could be summed into this.

'Zephyr, Gold, Iron, Trench, Kenny Jr, and finally 3 unnamed skeletons…' Ed did try to pit named skeletons together as much as possible but he was still surprised to see 3 unnamed skeletons enter the top 8.

Soon, two groups of 4 formed and independent battles ensued. Iron's blade was ruthless as it chipped away at the bone of his fellows.

Trench's earth however managed to defend the poor unnamed skeleton Iron was trying to promptly eliminate. This in turn made Iron feel challenged, and he met the challenge head on. The death knight switched targets.

It was then that a turbulent wind was stirred in the otherwise still crypt. Zephyr and Trench were clearly teaming against Iron! Was this suffering from success?

In the other group, Kenny Jr., Gold, and the two other unnamed skeletons faced off. Unlike with Iron and Trench's group however, there were no twists and turns. Gold was dominating the battlefield.

Their spear penetrated into one of the anti-skeleton's skull giving Gold a firm hold on them. With this he bashed their head against the ground causing Ed to grimace.

'I have to repair that, try to be more gentle!' If Ed had transmission he would send Gold such a message. Commanding him didn't seem like a good idea though since technically there had been no rule against brutality.

'Where did Gold even learn to be like-' Ed's hollow sockets narrowed, the culprit appeared to be encouraging the behavior from the sidelines. Brutus gave Gold a thumbs up for his actions.

'He is corrupting all the newly named!" Ed didn't know how to respond to this.

'I should give him some hard tasks to do' Clearly, the problem was Brutus had too much free time. Otherwise, how could he not only lose the tournament, but also mingle with his fellow anti-skeletons?

***

There was a race against time between two parties currently underway. The dragon bound Mite Volcan and the wind blessed Samuel Oakley.

One was splitting the clouds with their gigantic wings, and the other left a blurred image as they soared with the wind.

While one carried a simple potion, the other scorched the earth as they flew by bringing terror to both civilians and soldiers alike.

While the young prince didn't think much of it being raised in the violent Volcan Empire, for Samuel, the idea of being responsible for so many deaths was sickening. This was precisely the reason why Samuel's heart beat at an accelerated rate.

Having formed the conviction to protect his family and Bosque in the process the fate of many lives lay in his hands. The fear of failing to live up to those expectations... It was secretly eating away at Samuel's mind.

Fortunately, he was not just blessed by water and wind, Samuel was blessed with will power. Rather than slow down under the pressure and mental strain, Samuel's figure cut through the air, his body was like an arrow heading sharply in one direction.

The potion's cage quivered and though secretly worried that it would somehow spill over, Samuel became even faster. At this point, it felt like the very air was trying to kill him as he was constantly buffeted.

While Samuel suffered, the mountain of corpses Pyre left in his wake became much larger.

"Is that the capital?" Mite asked as he narrowed his eyes. Pyre let out steam before replying with a nod.

"It should be" Currently they were resting in a glade. The Volcan army had followed the dragon and emperor closely behind to the best of their abilities but they were still always in need of rest.

This was the real reason why it took Mite so long to get to the capital from the border while riding a freaking dragon.

"We should be able to reach our destination in less than an hour, let's depart!" Mite who was previously sitting down atop Pyre stood up and shouted.

The soldiers of Volcan who were previously making merry wiped off their smiles and turned solemn.

""""Yes Sir!"""" A thundering affirmation.

Pith, the capital of Bosque, named after the central cylinder of plants, was also the center of attention. It couldn't catch a break.