Goblins and Mind Flayers

Although it took some time to scout the Mind Flayer base, Karl felt the expedition was worthwhile.

He committed the terrain along the way to memory, intending to recreate a 1:1 map in the Dream World upon his return and then improve his cross-country skills.

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles."

How could he expect victory if he wasn't even familiar with the route to the enemy's lair?

Retracing his steps to the edge of the woods, Karl continued forward and soon spotted the Mind Flayer and some Brain Eaters advancing towards the canyon at the outermost perimeter of the forest.

Karl couldn't figure out why the Mind Flayer was using psionics to levitate itself through the air.

Not only was its speed slow, but it occasionally had to stop to rest.

However, as he watched, a guess suddenly popped into Karl's mind.

'This Mind Flayer might have just completed its metamorphosis and isn't very adept at controlling psionics yet, which is why it's using this method to get familiar with it.'

There were advantages and disadvantages to intelligent creatures transforming into Mind Flayers.

The most suitable were naturally humans of appropriate age and level.

Races with "fey ancestry," such as goblins, half-elves, or elves, were actually less suited for transformation into Mind Flayers.

Although they could be forcibly transformed, such Mind Flayers had a slightly slower start in adapting to psionics.

After all, fey ancestry provided some resistance to charm and hypnosis caused by magical effects, which would have a greater impact on the transformed individual's memories, thereby hindering the new Mind Flayer from progressing in psionics.

Psionics were powers originating from the mind; if even self-awareness became blurred, psionic development naturally wouldn't be swift.

However, after figuring this out, a new question arose in Karl's mind.

'Why are they going to the canyon?'

After a brief moment of contemplation, Karl's expression changed.

"That sinister thing beneath the goblin tribe's settlement... could it be a Mind Flayer? No, no, no. Although Mind Flayers were once servants of those ancient fiends, Mind Flayers living on the surface rarely collude with fiends anymore, but..."

Recalling the information Hopp had given him about the Mind Flayer that kidnapped him, Karl wasn't so confident in its integrity anymore.

According to Hopp, that Mind Flayer, dissatisfied with its Overmind's training, planned to control Graywall City and use trade with the Kingdom of Brynnland to seize control of the Overmind.

However, its plan was exposed shortly after it began, and the Lord of Graywall City beat him half to death.

The creature was spared only after begging for mercy.

As a result, it reneged on its promise, hijacked an airship, severed its connection with the Overmind, captured some residents of Graywall City, and fled to the Dark Abyss to make a comeback.

This individual, to put it mildly, was certainly intelligent.

Mind Flayers and their Overmind were connected mentally, similar to a hive mind; logically, the Overmind would know any thoughts harbored by a Mind Flayer under its control.

The fact that it managed to proceed with its plan to the point of formal execution showed that its secrecy work was excellent.

But from the current situation, it wasn't impossible for this Mind Flayer to collude with the fiends sealed in Khyber in order to make a comeback.

It dared to kneel and beg for mercy in the Graywall City market; its patience, coupled with its betrayal afterward, spoke volumes.

At the very least, Karl felt the possibility of it colluding with fiends was high!

Standing up, Karl was about to rush home to upgrade his equipment, just in case he lacked the ability to protect himself if something shouldn't be there appeared in this dungeon.

However, the distant Mind Flayer group suddenly dispersed.

Vaguely, Karl thought he saw figures moving in the canyon.

"Could it be that the Dire Goblins and Hobgoblins from the goblin tribe are back? What a coincidence?"

Thinking about how he had taken away most of the goblin tribe's fortune, Karl's lips twitched slightly under his helmet, feeling a bit regretful that he couldn't witness the spectacle firsthand.

"Fight! You must fight! Preferably to a mutually destructive end!"

With his most straightforward wish, Karl waved his arms twice towards the distant canyon, silently cheering them on.

Turning around, Karl took a detour and returned to the mushroom.

For concealment, he retracted the Rope of Climbing after returning to the cap.

This way, even if someone discovered this place, they wouldn't be able to climb up directly using the rope.

"The Power Armor upgrade needs to be expedited, as well as the Magic Runes for the Rapid Fire Weapon. If possible, I might consider changing the Power Armor model to the Guardian for better melee capability. With firearms for ranged combat, the melee aspect is still a bit weak."

Glancing back at the wooden hut behind him, Karl took off his Power Armor and walked over to the smelting furnace, injecting Spirituality into the rune board once more.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A continuous sound of blacksmithing rang out as Karl hammered a leftover piece of scrap into a perfectly octagonal emblem and hung it on the smelting furnace.

This was the symbol of the main faith on Eberron—the Nine Divines, also known as the Divines.

Each of the eight sides represented a god of a certain domain, and the octagonal emblem itself was a symbol of the God of Knowledge and Law.

People believed that the sum of the Divines represented all good things in the world, and they would often pray to Them when facing difficulties.

Although the faith in the Divines was widespread, there had never been a formal divine revelation.

As long as one walked the path corresponding to their domains, they could receive their blessings and become a cleric, even without ever reciting their doctrines.

For this reason, the Divines had no church, and people's faith in Them was relatively casual; it was a folk belief with a large number of adherents but little organizational power.

But on the Continent of Khorvaire, there were temples to Them everywhere, much like the Taoist and Buddhist temples of Karl's past life.

The reason Karl made this holy symbol, besides going through the motions of simple forging to get a feel for it, was also a desperate attempt to rely on metaphysics for blessings from the Divines.

Now, with Mind Flayers ahead and a goblin tribe behind, this dire situation was unlikely to be truly improved by effort alone.

So Karl ultimately chose to offer incense.

"Disgusting monster! Eat my axe!"

At the entrance to the canyon leading to the goblin tribe, several Dire Goblin barbarians, sent to guard the area, entered a frenzy and charged towards the Brain Eaters and the Mind Flayer.

The Mind Flayer, clearly transformed from a Hobgoblin, had not expected so many barbarians to appear in the tribe during its absence and was momentarily flustered.

The Brain Eaters intended to first paralyze the Dire Goblins with psionics, as they had done before, and then teleport into their brains.

However, the frenzied Dire Goblins were beyond their control.

A heavy metal axe cleaved through the air.

With a "thud," one Brain Eater met its end on the spot.

"Gurgle~, retreat!"

Casting a sinister gaze over the Dire Goblin barbarians, the Mind Flayer unleashed a powerful psionic wave, sending most of them flying.

It then fled with the remaining Brain Eaters towards this mushroom forest.

Compared to its previous "leisurely stroll," its floating speed this time was astonishingly fast.