Narrow Enemies

For any cash-strapped adventuring party, recruiting an Artificer would ease more than eighty percent of their equipment expenses.

This had circulated among countless adventurers and mercenaries long ago.

But only today did Hopp truly understand it.

Hopp stared intently at the Alchemy Jug as it gradually solidified from a translucent state of blue Arcane Energy, as though afraid she might miss something.

At last, as the energy slowly faded, the Alchemy Jug fully materialized and drifted gently down to the ground.

The Alchemy Jug looked like an ordinary ceramic jug, capable of holding around three liters of liquid. Yet whether it was empty or full, it always weighed roughly five kilograms.

Whether it contained liquid or not, shaking it still produced the sound of sloshing water.

Looking at the Wonderous Item she had replicated, Carl reached out and stroked the jug's surface.

"All right, I've set the liquid inside to fresh water. Drink up. Tomorrow before dawn, we'll change it into salt water. Then I'll extract some refined salt, and we won't have to worry about salt anymore."

The liquid inside an Alchemy Jug could change according to its user's request, though it could only pour out one type of liquid per day.

Generally speaking, an ordinary Alchemy Jug could pour out strong acid, oil, basic poison, vinegar, beer, fresh water, honey, salt water, mayonnaise, wine, and more.

The volume it could pour out differed depending on the type of liquid.

Fresh water and salt water were precisely the two liquids an Alchemy Jug could produce in the greatest quantities.

Hugging the Alchemy Jug, Hopp looked at Carl before tilting her head back and drinking deeply.

She drank with great enthusiasm, the continuous glugging of liquid rushing down her throat never stopping.

"Haah—"

Only after a long while did Hopp lower the Alchemy Jug and let out a long breath.

Carl took the Alchemy Jug from her and drank as well.

He had no idea how suspicious it was, to someone who had grown up in Zhuomu, that he had let Hopp drink first. On the contrary, Carl himself thought he was merely being courteous.

After Carl finished drinking, Hopp, with her extensive wilderness survival experience, began discussing shelter.

"This burrow is fairly well hidden, but it's far too cramped. We need to find another place to build our camp."

Since they had already decided to stay in this dungeon for the long term, they could not be careless about their living arrangements.

Carl nodded in understanding.

"Do you have any ideas about where to establish our permanent camp? We only took a brief look at the surrounding terrain before, but it seems to be nothing but hills. There's nothing particularly outstanding."

As a human, even with the fluorescent plants illuminating the dungeon, Carl still found it difficult to see farther into the distance.

By comparison, Hopp, as a Tiefling, possessed natural darkvision and could see farther into the dimmer areas.

"The fluorescence to the southeast is a little brighter than elsewhere. I think that should be the forest in this dungeon. We can go take a look."

As she spoke, Hopp once again displayed the flexibility she had shown when crawling into the burrow, squeezing out through the entrance.

Soon after, she moved away the rocks outside the burrow. While she was out, Carl quickly adjusted himself and put on his armor.

With Hopp's help, Carl climbed out of the burrow.

Seeing that the landscape outside was no different from before, Carl straightened up and stretched.

"Should we check the Giant Lizard corpses we killed earlier? We might find something."

Seeing that Hopp seemed ready to head directly toward the site she had chosen for their permanent camp, Carl suddenly had this thought and bluntly voiced it.

"Mmm, you're right. But I think we'll only be able to see two skeletons at most."

"Why?"

"Because Giant Lizards eat the flesh of their own kind too."

Shrugging, Carl followed Hopp toward the Bioluminescent Mushroom Forest she had mentioned.

At first, the path was extremely rugged. To travel ten meters in a straight line, they might also have to climb a rock face five or six meters high.

After walking for a while, though the path remained difficult, the two of them had mostly gotten used to it.

As they climbed over hills and crossed ridges, Carl even learned how to use Mage Hand to help them climb up and down.

He already knew Mage Hand, and after the Mind Flayer Tadpole became his physical cheat, he had also gained psionic power and the Telekinesis feat.

With psionic power enhancing it, Carl could cast Mage Hand without an incantation, requiring only a gesture.

Although Mage Hand was not very strong, it allowed Carl and Hopp to cling more securely to the rock walls while climbing.

After walking and stopping repeatedly, they finally arrived at the Bioluminescent Mushroom Forest Hopp had mentioned.

"Roar—"

The faint roar of a beast echoed from within the enormous mushroom grove ahead. Looking into the distance, Carl discovered that this "forest" of giant Bioluminescent Mushrooms was actually quite large.

"Bang, bang, bang."

Carl tapped the stalk of a giant mushroom with his fingers and was surprised to find that its material was even somewhat better than ordinary wood.

"These mushrooms can be used to build houses with a little processing, though the material is somewhat flammable. I remember an Alchemical Potion that can serve as a fireproof coating. If we can settle here, I'll make some later."

The earliest Artificers had emerged from mages' in-depth research into Alchemical Potions, constructs, and item crafting.

So although Carl was more skilled in mechanics, he did not lack basic alchemical knowledge.

"Let's take a look first. Choosing a campsite often takes time, and for us right now, time is abundant."

Holding two Hand Axes, Hopp entered the Bioluminescent Mushroom Forest first.

"Gurgle."

Deep within the Bioluminescent Mushroom Forest, a Giant Lizard staggered slowly toward a hemispherical chitinous structure.

This structure was at least seventy percent similar to the Mind Flayer base Carl and Hopp had just escaped from, except it was far smaller in scale.

When the Giant Lizard crawled into the structure and reached a pool glowing with orange-gold light, its head suddenly began to swell before finally splitting apart amid a tearing sound.

A Brain Eater crawled out from its head, then swam to the edge of the pool.

Psionic fluctuations lit up, and a gate beneath the pool opened. A group of Mind Flayer Tadpoles, each smaller than a fingernail, floated up in a scramble and burrowed into the Giant Lizard's body.

The Giant Lizard's body shriveled at a visible rate. The satiated Mind Flayer Tadpoles crawled back out and swam through the gate to where they had been before.