In the system's living room, Ed appeared as a humanoid being of light. This being of light was surrounded by lush green grass and well, lots of mushrooms. This had been Ed's dedicated mushroom greenhouse for a while so it only made sense it was inundated with them.
It had to be mentioned that this room had white walls, as did every other room in the system space's temple, for the living room it was as if a normal living room was overgrown with grass and mushrooms though Ed didn't pay that much mind.
'Riniya, I think you've probably realized this but'¦ Your life is in the palm of my hands' Ed transmitted to the consciousness that floated in front of him. In response, the consciousness shivered slightly.
'Just thought I'd let you know' Ed said smugly.
Ed was satisfied by the reaction and also managed to confirm his thoughts. It was indeed possible for him to instruct the consciousnesses while in the living room.
'Well, I guess whether she will remember it is yet to be seen' Ed thought silently before immediately exiting the system space. He didn't have any other business there so he promptly went out.
Ed simply wanted to give himself an unfathomable image. After seeing what she had seen, assuming she remembered it, Ed figured Riniya would conclude that he wasn't an elf and fear or revere him.
Among the scared whispers of the previous members of the council of elders, Ed opened his eyes. Azalia's chamber was once again empty.
Ed then looked down at Riniya's collapsed body and crouched down next to her to place his palm on her forehead.
"Sigh'¦ Forgive me but it's the only way to guarantee obedience" Ed said audibly. He was hoping for the elves to start piecing together the non-existent puzzle.
"He- He did he kill her?" An elder whispered to a partner frightfully.
"I, I think he did" "He is turning her into an undead" "Oh no!" The mutterings of the elves showed that they misunderstood the situation just as Ed was hoping they would.
Secretly enjoying the elves' reactions, Ed finally placed Riniya's consciousness back into her body. Her collapsed self took a bit to react but as soon as she opened her eyes she shot up in fright.
"Riniya, wave" The frightened Riniya immediately received a command. Before she could process what Ed said however she was surprised to find that her hand was already making a waving motion.
"You- What are you?" Riniya said stunned.
"Works as intended" Ed said nodding whilst completely ignoring Riniya's question.
"Answer me!" She cried out.
"Shut up" Ed shot back coldly. Riniya who was going to demand another answer remained quiet, she didn't know if it was because she was scared of Ed or because he did something to her but she didn't speak another word.
"Anyone else that wants a position like hers can line up, I'll apply the same process" Ed then addressed the crowd and said. Upon hearing this they all immediately started to scatter, this included Alolvi who Ed supposed just stayed to keep watch over him.
'He worries too much' Ed thought before noticing an oddity.
"Why are you still here?" Ed asked slightly confused. There was still one elf present in the chamber.
"I want to follow you, please make your disciple" Sanev proclaimed in front of Ed and Riniya who remained frozen and silent. Sanev's words snapped her out of her confusion, however.
She wanted to also shout to allow her to be a disciple but on second thought doing so might beget more punishment. Riniya was currently not sure if she was alive or dead so she didn't dare to ask any more of Ed.
Riniya decided to simply observe how things would go for Sanev. Actually, she didn't decide to just observe how things went this time, she formed a conviction to continue to only quietly observe until she was certain Ed had grown to trust her.
"And what can I teach you exactly? What can I even use you for?" If Ed hadn't already asked Alolvi to be the leader it would make sense for Sanev to try and aim for that position but clearly, Sanev only wanted to learn from him. The problem was that Ed didn't understand why that was the case.
Sanev paused when confronted with these questions. What had compelled them to ask for Ed to be his teacher? If this ambiguous elven entity had to respond there was only one answer'¦
"I'¦ I'm tired of feeling caged" As a water mage Sanev was only allowed to act and behave purely, Sanev didn't really know what it was supposed to mean. What they did know however was that in practice, happiness was outlawed.
As a water mage, Sanev had to follow ridiculous practices created by the elders and maybe even elders before them that had no place in the current elven society. Of course, Sanev was also taught not to speak their mind.
Sanev was supposed to always show the picture of a perfect being, one without fault separated from the dirty earthen mages and powerless warriors.
"I think'¦ No, I'm certain if I follow you something might change" While Ed's actions could be considered criminal, Sanev already knew that some things were different than they seemed.
When Ed first broke into the elven society, that was the first time they were allowed to get dirt and dust on their body. Sanev had felt some sense of liberation from it all and now that they were away from this toxic society they were certain they would get to feel that same glorious feeling again.
Ed's actions in practice were positive for their society, unlike the pointless rules and purity they had to enforce and abide by.
"...I think you've seen a wider world than I have and I want to be a part of that" Sanev said with conviction.
Hearing these words, Ed looked at this elven beauty and carefully considered their proposal. Their beauty was still freaky but their words had in a bizarre way tugged at Ed's heartstrings.
After what felt like an eternity of contemplation for Sanev, Ed finally opened his mouth to speak.
"You sound sincere" Ed said and paused.
"I will consider it" Ed then continued.
Sanev was immediately let down by the news but they quickly picked themselves up. There was still hope.
"Thank you, I will wait for your news then" Sanev said politely before finally starting to make their way out of the chamber. Riniya followed silently after Sanev not daring to say a single word of comment.
This meant that at last'¦ Ed was alone. All he could hear now was the sound of running water.
'Ed! I'm hungry!' That and Azalia's demands for vitality.
'You already have vitality from the array' Ed said somewhat at a loss.
'It's not the same!' Azalia cried out on the verge of throwing a tantrum. Ed could only shake sigh and shake his head.
The link cooldown was soon to wear off so he supposed it would be alright to give Azalia a little something. He couldn't neglect this tree deity after all.
'I'll give you some vitality later so hold on for a while now' Ed transmitted. This time, there were no outcries from the tree. As a matter of fact, Ed could only hear a happy hum.
'How do you-?' Ed couldn't wrap his head around a tree learning to hum and basically create music but he decided not to think too much about it or else his head would start to hurt.
'Status' Ed called out for his status. After the elves enjoyed their day off, he would start to teach them in full force. For that, he needed to check his status and make sure all his skills were in order.
[Name: Edwa&!]
Type: Elf (Arid)
Health: 680/680
Mana: 207/207
Vitality: 4
Strength: 3
Agility: 5
Constitution: 3
Dexterity: 2
~Skills~
[Survivalist lvl. 0]
[Formationist lvl. 6]
[Alchemy lvl. 1]
The quick overview of his status window quickly informed Ed that indeed, his best bet was to teach the elves array formations.
'I'll have to train my alchemy in this body' So far the elven body's alchemy was concentrated on concocting array inks though so it might not be a good idea to even teach that in the future.
'It might be better for me to delegate that to another body' Ed's orc body funnily enough was probably the best bet when it came to teaching the way of pioneering.
The only problem with this was that'¦ how was Ed supposed to get his orc body into the elven desert? If not that, how was he going to get the elves into Sanctuary?
'Hmmm... Unless I start giving them all swimming class it's going to be very unlikely' It might be a good idea for Ed to create a split version of himself that would be in charge of investigating this matter.
'I wonder if the blood haven has any answers'¦' This random thought cropped up in Ed's head.
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