The Empty Wooden Basin

"Did you feel anything?"

Inside the wooden cabin, Karl, who was holding Hopp for squats, suddenly stopped.

The special power granted by the Dragon Mark allowed him to sense a peculiar fluctuation sweeping through the area just now.

"No, I didn't feel anything special. Did something happen?"

Seeing Karl's rather serious expression, Hopp wriggled and flipped off Karl's shoulders.

"I'm not entirely sure, but some kind of special energy just flew over from that direction."

Karl raised his hand with some effort, pointing in a certain direction, his brow deeply furrowed.

"My danger sense didn't trigger, so it doesn't seem like an immediate disaster. Could it be related to your Exploration Dragon Mark? I remember it can even sense Dragonshards."

The biggest industry of the Exploration Dragon Mark family was helping to search for various Dragonshards.

As the crystallized power of the three creation dragons, Dragonshards could not be detected by magical means.

However, holders of the Exploration Dragon Mark could find Dragonshards through a special kind of sense.

"I don't know. The fluctuation just now felt different from the Eberron Dragon Crystal extracted from the bioluminescent mushrooms."

Karl rubbed his forehead, trying to eliminate any influence from fatigue.

"Maybe it's a Khyber Dragon Crystal. After all, this is an underground dungeon, so it's normal to encounter Khyber Dragon Crystals."

Shrugging, Hopp put her hands on her hips, her tone quite dismissive.

"But I feel like that fluctuation was mixed with malice. Let's investigate over there after we reach level 3. Hopefully, it won't be too much trouble. If it's something dangerous, we'll have to consider moving."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Karl walked to the lounge chair and sank into it.

"Don't sit down right after exercising! Stand up straight first, and sit down after your heart rate has stabilized!"

Grabbing Karl's collar and pulling him up, Hopp ignored Karl's groans and made him continue standing.

Standing helplessly to the side, Karl watched Hopp wipe away the sweat that had gotten on the lounge chair, his mouth twitching slightly.

"Hmm, should we boil some water to take a bath tonight? It can relieve fatigue and clean the body. Even though it's rained a few times recently, we still need to bathe."

Looking down at the sweat on himself and Hopp, Karl supported himself and suggested weakly.

Although there wasn't a suitable container for boiling water yet, Karl could carve a few more stones with Flame Runes and throw them into a basin filled with water.

This way, the two of them could still get a basin of hot water.

The basin used for soaking the Giant Lizard hides could be used for this purpose.

Upon hearing that they could take a bath, Hopp's eyes lit up with anticipation.

Even though she had lived a life of inconsistent meals in Droaam, she still paid attention to personal hygiene.

However, during her time in the underground dungeon, she hadn't had a proper bath.

"Then what are we waiting for! Do you need any help?"

"Hmm, can you help me carve some Flame Runes? The kind I drew on the stone slab before."

"Of course!"

Taking out the flint dagger she had ground earlier, Hopp sat down next to the stone slab and began to copy and carve the runes.

Meanwhile, Karl emptied the last batch of lizard hides soaked in the wooden basin, splashing the herbal ash and liquid outside.

Afterward, Karl rinsed the wooden basin with rainwater and placed it outside to collect more.

When Hopp had already carved two samples, Karl tried to inject Spirituality into them and found that only one worked properly.

After imparting some precautions to Hopp, Karl brought the wooden basin back from outside before the stones had completely heated up.

In just a few minutes, the wooden basin was more than half full of water.

'This rainfall is a bit too exaggerated. Where did all this rainwater go? If this is a periodic phenomenon, this dungeon should have been flooded long ago!'

Analyzing the exaggerated rainfall phenomenon in his mind, Karl took a stone and threw it into the wooden basin.

He didn't throw in the stone slabs used for eating. Although high temperatures could kill bacteria, it was best not to mix certain things.

Before long, Hopp had carved several more rune stones. Judging by her learning progress, Karl felt that she might be able to aim for the Runecarver specialization in the future.

Injecting Spirituality into the newly carved rune stones again, this time three of them were successful.

He threw these rune stones into the wooden basin as well, then carried the basin to a corner of the room and used the clothes rack and the Giant Lizard hides to create a curtain around the area.

"The water temperature is gradually rising. Hopp, you go first."

Testing the water temperature with his finger, Karl left the Alchemy Jug next to the wooden basin and walked out of the makeshift bathroom.

"Then I won't be polite!"

Stepping into the makeshift bathroom, Hopp quickly took off her clothes and put them on the rack, happily taking a bath.

The Giant Lizard hides, having been soaked in the herbal ash solution for a long time, were still somewhat translucent as they hadn't completely air-dried.

This discovery made Karl somewhat uneasy.

But in the end, he said nothing and just watched quietly.

After all, he was going to go in and bathe later too...

After an unknown amount of time passed, Hopp poked their head out from behind the curtain.

"Karl, can you pass me those Giant Lizard skins that have been air-drying? My clothes are soaked, and I need to wash them."

It was then that Karl remembered that both of their clothes were completely drenched in sweat. Without any change of clothes, they could only use those Giant Lizard skins, which were still air-drying, as bath towels.

"Wait a moment, I'll go check."

He touched the skins with his fingers. The dry skins were already sufficient to make clothes.

However, due to the loss of moisture, the skins were not as soft as before.

"Try wrapping one around yourself. It's not as soft as we initially thought."

Handing a relatively large one to Hopp, Karl stood outside the curtain, waiting for Hopp.

"There's a slight issue, but it's not bad."

A moment later, Hopp emerged from behind the curtain, using the leather as a bath towel.

She now looked as if she were wearing a tight, leather dress.

Her red skin, which had begun to gleam after a thorough cleaning, had a veiled, alluring quality under the cover of the leather bath towel.

Hopp's red tail was restlessly swaying behind her, clearly indicating that her owner was not as calm as she appeared.

"Then, should I go in and wash too? Can you wash my clothes for me? We'll make spare clothes together later."

Saying this, Karl also took off his clothes and placed them on the rack.

The next second, these clothes were whisked away by Hopp, who was outside the curtain, to be washed.

Why does it feel like the way we interact is heading toward the dynamic of an old married couple?

Shaking his head and sighing, Karl was about to bend down to scoop water from the basin when he discovered that there was nothing in it but a few stones.

"Where's the water?!"

On this day, Karl deeply understood a truth:

Never bathe after a woman when the hot water is limited, because you never know if she'll leave any hot water for you.