Of course, this was also thanks to the Artificer. The armor available to ordinary warriors had become more affordable and offered better value for money.
So wands had not become some invincible killing weapon, either. After all, ordinary spellcasters could only "attune" to three wands at most.
"One, two, three... Six in total?"
Hiding behind the arrow tower's railing, Carl occasionally poked her head out to count the Grotesque Aberrations fighting an ambush battle against her.
"Wiping them all out at once is unlikely. I'll have to take out a few first!"
Having made up her mind, Carl began chanting a spell.
At the same time, she jumped straight down from the arrow tower and charged toward the wall behind which three enemies had gathered.
As she ran, her hands moved through gestures that were slightly too chuuni.
Thunderwave
When she reached the vicinity of the three enemies, the spell was finally completed. An invisible shock wave spread outward from Carl's Power Armor, expanding through a spherical space with a radius of fifteen feet.
Two of the three enemies were sent flying backward, blood spurting from their mouths. The remaining one did not fly away, but looked as though he would not live much longer.
Without the slightest mercy, Carl raised her left arm and fired another shot at his head.
Paralyzed from head to toe by the sonic vibrations, the enemy had no time to dodge and took the hit directly in a vital spot.
"Whoosh!"
Just then, the Aberrations hiding elsewhere launched an attack.
The ultrasonic attack brought by Thunderwave had been scattered by the buildings, so they had not been affected much.
Carl sidestepped to avoid the attack, then followed the projectile's trajectory toward its source.
"Rumble..."
Suddenly, a world-shaking commotion came from another direction.
In the tribe built from wood and tents, Hopp, nearly three meters tall, wielded two enormous axes and continuously swept them horizontally around himself.
The tents and Aberrations were crushed outright. With only a turn, Hopp had cleared out every enemy around him.
Once I learn Enlarge, I'm going to play like that too!
Lost in that fantasy, Carl cast Mage Hand and knocked aside the short sword thrown by an enemy.
These fellows had prepared extremely few crossbow bolts. They had probably already reached the point of running completely out of ammunition.
Judging by the appearance of those crossbow bolts, this group might not have replaced them in over a decade. The fact that they've survived until now is entirely because the materials used to make them were good. How did the technology of these goblin tribes regress so badly?
Grabbing a nearby door panel, Carl used it to block another weapon flying in from a different direction.
She did not know that goblin craftsmanship was usually passed down by ordinary goblins.
However, in this dungeon, ordinary goblins had almost no status before Dire Goblins and Hobgoblins, and were beaten or killed at the slightest provocation.
Their craftsmanship had consequently fallen out of succession bit by bit, until it had become the sorry state it was now.
After all, in the Underdark, individual strength was the main standard determining one's right to speak. Ordinary goblins' bodies simply could not stand against Dire Goblins and Hobgoblins.
"Bang!"
As Carl moved rapidly, a heavy wooden plank suddenly descended from midair.
Those Aberrations actually knew how to use the objects around them to create obstacles!
Without the slightest pause, Carl struck out with a rising elbow. Relying on the elbow of her Power Armor, she shattered the wooden plank by breaking through its weakest point.
The Aberration hiding behind the plank had clearly not expected this iron man to possess such tremendous strength. Caught off guard, he experienced the might of an iron elbow strike head-on.
His already twisted features looked as though someone had knocked over a bottle of seasoning, leaving them in every imaginable shape.
Those eyebrows and eyes looked as if they were fooling around.
Yet even that was not the end. At the instant the Aberration was about to be sent flying, Carl activated the lightning emitter in her chest and gave him another brutal blow.
The flash of electricity vanished in an instant. The Aberration's body landed on the ground like a torn sack, twitched twice, and then stopped moving.
In the distance, two enormous throwing axes flew through the air and crashed into two tents not far from Carl.
Blood sprayed as the last two Aberrations died beneath Hopp's thrown axes.
At the same time, Hopp's Rage ended, and his body returned to its normal size.
"I really didn't expect these guys to be so difficult. I thought I wouldn't need to use Rage."
After sheathing the two Hand Axes at the small of her back, Hopp walked over from a distance, looking completely relaxed.
An ordinary Grotesque Aberration had a Challenge Rating of only one-half. Even those that had acquired a class seemed to be around level one at most, judging by eye.
"Good. With these guys dealt with, we won't have to worry about anything attacking us from behind for the time being. Come with me. I can already clearly sense the source of that malice."
With the feedback from the Scouting Dragon Mark, Carl knew there were no enemies left nearby.
However, the malice Carl had sensed earlier had now grown increasingly intense.
Following the sensation, Carl and Hopp soon found the goblin tribe's armory.
Looking at the weapons and armor placed against the walls, Carl's brow furrowed even more deeply.
"They're all made of refined iron. Some even contain mithril. Although the arcane patterns have been completely destroyed, they're all excellent raw materials."
The armor and weapons were all standard-issue sizes meant for Dire Goblins and Hobgoblins. Judging from the size of the tribe and the specifications of the tents, there should have been quite a few Dire Goblins and Hobgoblins here.
Yet now, the main fighting force of this goblin tribe had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only these Aberrations...
This bizarre situation inevitably made Carl think further.
"Over here."
After reaching the very back of the warehouse, Carl quickly discovered an open tunnel.
She called Hopp over, and the two entered the tunnel together.
"Whoa—"
The moment they entered the tunnel, the first thing that filled their vision was Dragon Crystal—piles and piles of Dragon Crystal.
In the exit and the front section of the tunnel, the walls on both sides were almost completely embedded with Khyber Dragonshards.
Farther inside, roiling black mist obstructed Carl and Hopp's vision, preventing them from seeing clearly.
Looking at the tunnel before her, Carl was so astonished that she could not speak.
Places where Khyber Dragonshards formed were often locations where fiends appeared. Although this had not been confirmed, based on past data, the possibility was quite high.
"This place is a little sinister!"
Although she said that, Carl's hands were already moving swiftly as she pried the outermost Khyber Dragonshards loose and put them into the Bag of Holding.
Hopp immediately joined in and helped. The two of them finally stopped only after filling more than half the Bag of Holding.
"Hopp, don't follow me any farther for now. I have psionics, so no matter what happens, I can guarantee that I'll remain clear-headed. I'll explore the rest alone!"
Looking at the tunnel ahead, Carl stopped Hopp from following her.
The closer she got to the depths of the tunnel, the hotter her Scouting Dragon Mark became.
For safety's sake, Carl planned to go on alone.
Before you continue