Although it had taken some time to scout the Mind Flayer's base, Carl felt the trip had been worth it.
She had committed the terrain along the way to memory. Once she returned, Carl planned to recreate a 1:1 map in the Dream World and then train her cross-country abilities.
As the saying went: know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
If she was not even familiar with the route to the enemy's lair, how could she expect to win?
After retracing her path to the edge of the woodland, Carl continued onward. Before long, at the very outskirts of the woods, she spotted the Mind Flayer and several Brain Eaters heading toward the canyon.
For some reason, the Mind Flayer had been using psionics to keep herself floating through the air the entire time.
Not only was she slow, but she also had to stop and rest every so often.
However, the longer Carl watched, the more a guess suddenly surfaced in her mind.
This Mind Flayer may have only recently completed her transformation. She hasn't mastered psionics yet, so she's using this method to familiarize herself with it.
There were differences in how suitable intelligent creatures were for transformation into Mind Flayers.
Naturally, the most suitable candidates were humans of an appropriate age and level.
Races such as goblins, half-elves, and elves, which possessed "fey bloodlines," were instead less suited for transformation into Mind Flayers.
Although they could still be forcibly transformed, such Mind Flayers were slightly slower to adapt to psionics at the beginning.
After all, fey bloodlines possessed a certain resistance to charms and the sleep caused by magical effects. This caused the transformed individual's memories to exert a greater influence on the Mind Flayer, hindering the newborn Mind Flayer's use of psionics.
Psionics originated from the mind. If even one's self-awareness was blurred, then psionics naturally could not progress quickly.
However, after figuring that out, a new question surfaced in Carl's mind.
What are they going to the canyon for?
After a brief moment of contemplation, Carl's expression changed.
"Don't tell me that sinister thing beneath the goblin tribe belongs to the Mind Flayers? No, no. Although Mind Flayers were once servants of those ancient fiends, Mind Flayers living on the surface rarely consort with fiends anymore. But..."
Thinking of the information Hopp had told her about the Mind Flayer who had kidnapped her, Carl became less confident in his integrity.
According to Hopp, that Mind Flayer had been dissatisfied with the Overmind's cultivation of him. He had therefore planned to control Graywall City and use its trade deal with the Kingdom of Brynnland to plot a takeover of the Overmind's control.
However, his plan was exposed not long after it began. The lord of Graywall City had beaten him half to death.
That fellow had only been spared because he begged for mercy.
Yet he immediately went back on his word, hijacked an airship, severed his connection with the Overmind, abducted some local residents of Graywall City, and fled to the Dark Abyss in an attempt to make a comeback.
How should one put it? That guy definitely had brains.
Mind Flayers and their Overmind were connected mentally in a form resembling a hive mind. In theory, the Overmind should know whatever thoughts a Mind Flayer under its control had.
The fact that he had carried out his plan right up until its official execution meant that his secrecy had been good enough.
But judging from the current situation, it was entirely possible that this Mind Flayer had teamed up with the fiends sealed within Khyber to make a comeback.
He had even dared to kneel and beg for mercy in the marketplace of Graywall City. With that degree of patience, combined with the shamelessness to betray them immediately afterward—
At the very least, Carl thought there was a high chance he had colluded with the fiends!
Carl rose to her feet and was just about to hurry home to upgrade her equipment, lest she lack even the ability to save her life if something that should not exist appeared in this dungeon.
However, the distant Mind Flayer group suddenly split apart.
In the distance, Carl seemed to see figures moving within the canyon.
"Could the Dire Goblins and Hobgoblins from that goblin tribe have returned? What timing!"
Thinking about how she had brought back most of the goblin tribe's wealth, the corners of Carl's mouth twitched beneath her helmet. She could not help feeling that it was a shame she was not there in person to watch the show.
"Fight! You have to fight! Better yet, fight until both sides are crippled!"
With the most sincere of hopes, Carl waved both arms twice toward the distant canyon, cheering them on silently.
Carl turned around, took another detour, and returned to the mushroom.
For the sake of concealment, she also stowed away the Rope of Climbing after returning to the cap.
That way, even if someone discovered this place, they would at least not be able to climb straight up by following the rope.
"The Power Armor upgrade needs to be expedited. And there are the magic runes for the Rapid Fire Weapon firearms. If possible, I could consider switching the Power Armor model to the Guardian to strengthen my close combat. With firearms for ranged attacks, my melee capabilities are still somewhat lacking."
After glancing back at the wooden house, Carl removed her Power Armor, walked over to the smelting furnace, and once again infused the rune plate with spiritual energy.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
A steady succession of hammering rang out. Carl gradually hammered a leftover scrap of metal into a regular octagonal badge, then hung it above the smelting furnace.
This was the symbol of Eberron's mainstream faith—the Nine Divines, also known as the Divines.
Each of the eight sides represented a deity of a particular domain, while the octagonal badge itself symbolized the God of Knowledge and Law.
People believed that the totality of the Divines represented everything good in the world. Whenever they encountered difficulties, most would pray to them.
Although worship of the Divines was widespread, formal divine revelations had never descended.
As long as one walked a path corresponding to their domain, one could receive their blessing and become a cleric, even without ever reciting their doctrines.
For that reason, the Divines had no churches. People's faith in them was also fairly casual—a folk religion with a massive following but little organizational power.
Yet temples dedicated to them could be found throughout the Continent of Khorvaire, much like the Taoist and Buddhist temples of Carl's previous life.
Carl had made this holy symbol not only to get a feel for things through some simple forging, but also as a desperate attempt to make use of superstition and ask the Divines to bless her.
With the Mind Flayers ahead and the goblin tribe behind, this terrible situation would be difficult to truly change through hard work alone.
So Carl ultimately chose to burn incense.
"Disgusting monsters! Eat my axe!"
At the canyon entrance leading to the goblin tribe, several Dire Goblin Barbarians sent to guard the place entered a Rage and charged toward the Brain Eaters and Mind Flayer.
The Mind Flayer transformed from a Hobgoblin clearly had not expected so many Barbarians to have appeared in the tribe during her absence. For a moment, she was completely at a loss.
The Brain Eaters had intended to immobilize the Dire Goblins with psionics as they had before, then teleport into their brains.
But the enraged Dire Goblins were completely unaffected by their control.
A heavy metal axe cleaved down from above.
With a wet splurt, one Brain Eater met its end on the spot.
"Gurgle~ Retreat!"
The Mind Flayer swept a sinister gaze over the Dire Goblin Barbarians and directly unleashed a powerful burst of psionic energy, sending most of them flying.
She herself then led the remaining Brain Eaters in flight toward the mushroom woodland.
Compared with her earlier "leisurely stroll," her floating speed this time was astonishingly fast.
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