"Splurt!"
The axe that Hopp often maintained cleanly embedded itself in a giant lizard's skull. Red and pink viscous matter sprayed from the wound, staining the surrounding water crimson.
The smell of blood awakened the savagery of the giant lizards nearby. They did not flee. Instead, they pounced on Hopp.
At such close range, how could Carl dare to keep firing bolts?
Releasing her psychic power, she sent out a wordless Mage Hand, pushing a giant lizard flying through the air and pulling it slightly toward Carl's direction. This caused it to veer from its intended path and miss Hopp.
These burly creatures were still quite troublesome in terms of strength. If they knocked someone down, even a professional like Hopp would have a hard time breaking free.
Holding the Bag of Holding in one hand, Carl rapidly chanted a spell.
The giant lizard she had controlled changed direction and charged toward her.
Without pausing her chant, Carl raised the Repeating Crossbow and struck the charging giant lizard in the head with a single shot.
The two-hundred-pound body crashed to the ground. Carl put away the Repeating Crossbow and began chanting again from the start.
As the spell drew near its end, Carl's voice gradually rose in pitch.
This was to warn Hopp that she was about to release a spell.
As it happened, Hopp had just finished a round of Rage and was feeling slightly drained. After noticing this, she immediately leaped aside and retrieved the two Hand Axes she had thrown earlier.
Tasha's Acid Arrow
At last, Carl finished casting. A stream of acid thirty feet long and five feet wide shot forward from her position.
Every giant lizard within the line-shaped area was covered in strong acid.
Their scales and skin were rapidly corroded, but the acid was soon washed away by the rain and the water flowing along the ground.
The damage was not fatal, and it had not even caused these giant lizards too much harm.
However, after nearly a minute of continuous acid spray, the giant lizards' claws and scales had been softened by the slightly diluted acid.
Raising the Repeating Crossbow again, Carl watched the giant lizards rolling in the current, loaded the weapon without mercy, and pulled the trigger.
One bolt of magic after another pierced the giant lizards' bodies. In the end, all seven giant lizards died on the spot.
"Let's keep the Giant Lizard Hide this time. If we tan it a little, we can make two more sets of spare clothes."
Giant lizard hide was similar to crocodile hide. If properly processed, it was more than suitable for making clothes.
Carl had watched plenty of science videos in her previous life, and she knew some of the steps involved in traditional leather tanning.
"As expected of an Arcanix student. You know so much."
Hopp looked at Carl with undisguised envy. Uncertain light flickered in her eyes, and no one could tell what she was thinking.
"Knowing a lot isn't as useful as doing a lot. Practice is the only standard for testing truth."
Carl took a basket she had prepared in advance out of the Bag of Holding, hung it nearby, took a Hand Axe from Hopp, and began cutting.
Because they had to take care not to damage the Giant Lizard Hide, the two of them moved noticeably more slowly.
Fortunately, this place was beneath the cap of a giant mushroom. Although the two were occasionally splashed by rain, they could spend most of their time cutting meat in peace.
The two of them also packed up the giant lizards' bones and brought them back. Carl planned to try making Bone China after advancing to level three.
Eating roasted meat all the time could get tiresome.
"It would be great if you could make a few more Bags of Holding."
Carrying a basketful of meat and bones on her back, Hopp trudged through the rushing water, still dissatisfied.
"I'd like to as well, but the craftsmanship is rather complicated. I can't make them yet."
Carl was also carrying a basketful of meat and bones. She followed behind Hopp, her body swaying from time to time.
These bones weighed at least a hundred pounds. Even Hopp could not carry them over a long distance.
Sweat mixed with rainwater and slid down their bodies. The two walked and rested intermittently until they finally returned beneath the Petrified Mushroom.
After tying the baskets to the Rope of Climbing, Hopp pulled on the end of the rope and was the first to return to the top of the mushroom cap.
Fortunately, the Rope of Climbing could bear more than a ton of weight. Otherwise, the two of them could only have used the Bag of Holding to transport everything up and down one trip at a time.
Even so, the mechanism Carl had designed still operated with considerable difficulty.
It took nearly three times as long as usual to pull Hopp and the two baskets up.
This forced Carl to consider whether the mechanism could be optimized.
Soon, another Rope of Climbing descended from above. Carl waited for a moment before pulling on the rope and rising.
Next time, I can consider using a pulley system, then installing something like a cable car. But if I do that, I'll probably need to widen this gap a little...
Carl shook the rainwater from her body and walked into the house, shivering all over.
After imbuing the stone slab with some of her psychic power again, Carl pinched out the glowing Rivet, deftly removed her clothes, and prepared to hang them over the stone slab to dry.
But after removing only half her clothes, Carl suddenly stopped.
Because in her eyes, the world was still "bright."
She could clearly see the grain of the wooden plank beside her, as though there were still a light source in the room.
But that should have been impossible. Carl had not yet made any window openings in the house, and the only light entering the living room came faintly through the doorway.
With Carl's previous eyesight, she absolutely should not have been able to see clearly.
While she was distracted by her thoughts, Hopp had already removed her clothes with practiced ease and walked over.
Crystal-clear droplets slid one by one down her fiery-red skin. As she walked, Hopp's body trembled up and down, making the sight dizzying.
The impact of the scene was simply too much for Carl. To keep herself from having too many improper thoughts, she hurriedly closed her eyes in fright.
Although she had closed her eyes, her hands did not stop moving.
Soon, she had removed her soaked clothes, wrung out the water, and hung them above the stone slab.
Unintentionally, Carl opened her eyes for an instant and caught sight of Hopp from the corner of her eye.
The girl was staring fixedly at Carl's lower body. Her already fiery-red skin now looked several shades more vivid.
Carl focused her attention, and a faint trace of psychic power radiated from her body in all directions.
Then, her psychic power captured an emotion mixed with shyness and curiosity.
Could she see me clearly too? Can Darkvision really see to this extent? Doesn't that mean it comes with natural infrared vision? No! Infrared vision is only black and white. Darkvision is still in color in dim environments.
With her body somewhat stiff, Carl sat down beside the stone slab. Her eyes remained closed, and her feelings were complicated.
She was just about to enter the Dream World to check her status when Hopp leaned over. Her slightly cool fingers brushed across Carl's back, making the already excited Carl even more "excited."
Carl's eyes flew open. Staring toward the stone slab, she asked, "What are you doing?"
From the corner of her eye, Carl saw that Hopp seemed not to have expected such an "intense" reaction. Her expression became somewhat flustered.
She tried hard not to look at Carl, but her gaze kept lingering on Carl's body again and again.
After quite some time, she finally spoke. "It looks like your back is injured. Right here..."
As she spoke, Hopp pressed her palm against the spot that occasionally caused Carl pain.
There, a twisted pattern had already risen from Carl's skin.