The Influence of the Plane of Air

"Hoo—"

Another wisp of cool breeze swept over, and Karl no longer hesitated. He immediately began selecting wood to construct the large door.

"Wait, this wind… isn't it a sign that the Plane of Air is starting to influence the dungeon?"

There was no rule stating that the influence of the four elemental planes on this demiplane had to be sequential. With this thought, Karl's speed in making the door panels increased by two notches.

"Do you need any help?"

Seeing Karl working so hard, Hopp felt a pang of guilt.

Thinking that their body had mostly recovered, Hopp took the initiative to ask Karl for work.

But…

"Uh~, there isn't any suitable work for you right now."

As a "barbarian" with no skills other than fighting and surviving in the wild, there was little Hopp could do to help Karl.

At least, until they mastered certain skills and knowledge, the most they could do was help Karl with the rough processing of wood.

"Oh, okay then."

Hopp obediently walked to the side, sat down with their knees hugged, and tried not to disturb Karl.

Seeing Hopp seemed a little disappointed, Karl thought for a moment and took out some flint and whetstones from the Bag of Holding.

"Why don't you help me sharpen these flints? That way, we'll have two more flint daggers for processing things."

"Okay!"

Eagerly taking the stones, Hopp found a spot directly facing Karl and began sharpening the flint daggers.

Flint daggers weren't exactly essential tools for Karl. After he reached level 3, he would be able to learn the Artificer's Handy Tools.

This was a class feature of the Artificer's main class. The holder could precisely craft the tools they needed.

This feature allowed an Artificer to use thieves' tools or artisans' tools in their hands to magically create a set of artisans' tools in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of them.

The set of tools was a magical product, but it was non-magical in itself.

When the Artificer used this feature again, the previously created tools would disappear.

In ancient times, Artificers could only rely on this feature to create simple alchemical vessels or blacksmith's tools.

But in modern times, Artificers had made significant progress in developing this feature.

Mechanical lathes, potion extraction workstations, hydraulic power hammers, and even high-speed centrifuges – as long as the item was non-magical and its structure wasn't too outlandish, an Artificer could create it.

Of course, the crafting time would increase with the complexity of the machinery.

The earliest Artificers only needed an hour to create the tools they needed, but now, that time often started at three hours.

Thus, Karl and Hopp sat facing each other, each working on their own tasks.

Time flew by quickly, and the items in their hands became more refined.

As the two were about to finish, a white light suddenly flashed across the sky outside.

The white light flickered continuously, lasting for about five to six seconds.

Karl and Hopp put down their work because of the flash. About ten seconds later, a "rumbling" thunderclap echoed from the distance.

"It looks like the Plane of Air has indeed joined in. I'm somewhat glad now that I built foundations for this house."

As soon as he finished speaking, the rain from the sky suddenly poured down.

The sound of "whistling" wind rose from the mushroom forest, and some rainwater was blown into the wooden house by the wind.

Seeing this, Karl quickly grabbed the door panel from the ground and propped it up in the door frame.

He then took another piece of wood to prop against the door and crouched down to start crafting the mechanism for opening and closing it.

This didn't take Karl much time. Just as Hopp finished the first flint dagger, Karl also completed his work.

Assembling everything, Karl looked with satisfaction at the door that was blocking out the wind and rain and found a piece of wood of a similar size to serve as a bolt.

Just as he was about to show off his work to Hopp, Karl suddenly felt a significant increase in the Spirituality in his soul.

What's going on?

The increase in Spirituality was so sudden, but after thinking carefully, Karl could understand part of the reason.

Although this house was made of wood, the intricacy of the mortise and tenon joinery was no less than that of mechanical structures.

In a sense, this also counted as within the scope of an Artificer's "training."

But why wasn't there any spiritual feedback when I created the rough frame before? Was it because there was no door then?

Pushing down his doubts, Karl didn't dwell on it.

As long as he could gain Spirituality, that was good.

At the current pace, if everything goes smoothly, and I practice my combat skills for a while longer with the Combat Apprentice feat, I'll be able to advance to level 3.

Thinking about the abilities he could learn after reaching level 3, Karl's heart gradually grew warmer.

"Hey! What are you standing there blankly for?"

Seeing Karl standing still after plugging in the door, Hopp walked forward and waved a hand in front of him.

"It's nothing, my Spirituality just grew a bit. I might even reach level 3 before you do!"

"Then you're truly amazing. To celebrate you reaching level 3 early, how about some extra training later?"

Upon hearing "extra training," Karl's face instantly fell.

Hopp's training methods were even more extreme than some fitness influencers from his previous life. Karl wasn't sure he could endure the workout.

But the thought of his current physique, only slightly better than an average person's, made him dismiss the idea of giving up. He nodded with difficulty.

"Fine!"

Regardless, Karl felt he at least needed to build a body capable of withstanding the high-G maneuvers of the Arcane Power Armor.

Otherwise, he'd collapse before he could even defeat an enemy.

"Let's start with ten sets of weighted push-ups."

Seeing Karl agree to it for the first time, Hopp didn't hold back and immediately upped the intensity.

"Don't put anything too heavy."

Giving Hopp a pitiful look, Karl lowered himself to the ground, ready to start exercising.

As he wondered what Hopp would place on his back, a soft, springy object applied downward pressure on his lower back.

Turning his head, Karl saw Hopp sitting on his lower back, seemingly intending to lie on him entirely.

"Don't stop! You do push-ups, I'll do crunches. We'll train together."

Before Karl could say anything, Hopp had already lay down on him and then sat up, completing a standard crunch.

"Wait... where did you learn this training method?"

It was said that when men and women exercise in physical contact, it increases the hormones secreted by both, thereby improving training efficiency.

However, Karl's knowledge of this method was limited to short videos from his previous life; he didn't know if it was true or not.

"Huh? I just saw you needed weight, so I'm helping you with myself. Did you want to use those stiff wooden blocks as weights instead?"

"No... this is fine..."