Dungeon

On the planet Eberron, there was a creation myth familiar to every race.

The entire world had been born from the hands of the three progenitor dragons: Xyberis, Eberron, and Khyber.

At the dawn of the world, these three cosmic beings created thirteen planes, each embodying a concept.

Their final task was to create the Material Plane, where every idea would take form: a realm that knew war and peace, life and death, order and chaos.

But the cruel Khyber desired ultimate dominion over the universe.

So she attacked Xyberis without warning and tore him to pieces.

Eberron and Khyber grappled, with Eberron curling the traitor within herself, yet she was unable to defeat her.

Thus, Eberron became a living prison, a planet that imprisoned Khyber forever.

Afterward, the shattered Xyberis became the Ring of Siberys surrounding Eberron, said to be the source of magic.

Natural life as it existed today was born upon Eberron's surface, and civilization as it existed today took shape.

Khyber, located within the planet, lay buried in darkness, the source of all manner of aberrations and fiends.

When people dug deep enough, they entered Khyber's domain.

It was filled with countless Dungeon Demiplanes and innumerable caverns, a breeding ground for all kinds of evil creatures.

"Thud!"

Within a Dungeon Demiplane permeated by a faint smell of sulfur, Carl and Hopp suddenly tumbled out of a Portal.

The two of them rolled together until they crashed into a rock and finally came to a stop.

In the distance, the Portal that had sent them over began to fade before vanishing completely.

"Cough! Cough, cough!"

The somewhat pungent odor made Carl cough uncontrollably. Looking around, he saw orange-glowing mushrooms and moss carpeting the ground.

After checking Hopp's condition, he found that her head injury was not serious. She should merely have been unconscious.

He arranged her into a more comfortable sleeping position, then twisted his back and felt something was off.

"Hiss... I think I hit my back earlier. Why does it feel like it's burning?"

Looking at their surroundings, Carl did not dare take off his armor.

Though they had escaped the Mind Flayer base, their current situation was not much better than before.

Dungeon Demiplanes varied in strength, but their environments were notoriously harsh.

Even without powerful monsters, surviving here would be a challenge for the two of them.

After gazing toward the upper reaches of the Demiplane for a while, Carl sighed and removed the Hand Crossbow from his belt.

An Artificer's basic ability was to infuse magic into objects. At level two, they could turn ordinary weapons into magical weapons through infusions.

"A Hand Crossbow naturally needs the Rapid Fire Weapon infusion. That way, I'll have a Desert Eagle with infinite ammo."

"I just hope the monsters in this dungeon aren't ridiculously strong."

In his previous life, many people believed carbon-based lifeforms stood no chance against firearms.

But in this world of magic, monsters capable of resisting bullet damage with their bare bodies were everywhere.

Even a human could easily negate the damage from ordinary bullets or arrows after being given a first-circle Mage Armor spell.

Carl placed the Hand Crossbow on the ground, extended a hand, and guided magic into it.

Azure magic etched patterns across the Hand Crossbow, while its fundamental nature rapidly changed in the process.

This required Carl to maintain intense focus, but fortunately, Rapid Fire Weapon was one of an Artificer's most basic infusions. Its principles were not too complicated, and he finished quickly.

Picking up the Hand Crossbow radiating a blue glow, Carl followed the technique his academy instructor had taught him and pulled the trigger at a distant stone.

A bolt formed from magic shot forth. Upon striking the stone, it dispersed, and a new magical bolt condensed on the Hand Crossbow.

"If I get the chance, I should modify this Hand Crossbow. This model is way too outdated."

Carl cocked the Hand Crossbow again and clicked his tongue, finding it less easy to use than he had initially imagined.

Fortunately, an Enchanted Weapon could serve as an Artificer's spellcasting focus, so he no longer needed to keep one hand free to hold a Wrench.

After quite some time, Hopp's eyelids suddenly twitched on the ground. Then she let out a muffled groan.

"Mmph..."

She opened her eyes, climbed to her feet, and looked around in confusion.

"Where are we?"

Since she had been unconscious when she fell into the Portal, she had no idea that the two of them had ended up in a Demiplane containing a dungeon.

After explaining what had just happened to Hopp, Carl looked at her helplessly, his expression somewhat dejected.

He had been the one to suggest going to the end of the tunnel, and he had also been the reason they had ended up in this situation. Carl did not feel good about it.

Even the fact that the Mind Flayer Tadpole had become his cheat no longer made him all that happy.

Seeing why Carl was feeling down, Hopp thought for a moment before trying to comfort him.

"No matter what, it's better than falling back into the Mind Flayers' hands. I heard dungeons like this occasionally produce Portals to the outside. Maybe we can use one to get out when it appears!"

As a reclusive Tiefling whose entire family had been killed in Zhuomu, Hopp was not good at comforting others.

Yet after hearing Hopp's words, Carl's expression became even more despondent.

"For a Demiplane-type dungeon to produce a Portal, it usually requires some kind of trigger. Those triggers can take all kinds of forms, and they aren't fixed. If we're lucky, a new Portal might appear soon. But if we're unlucky..."

Carl looked up at Hopp's heroic face, the corners of his mouth twitching twice. He did not continue.

If they were unlucky, perhaps no Portal would ever be triggered for the rest of their lives.

If that happened, Carl and Hopp might have to begin a grueling life of wilderness survival.

Of course, the more likely possibility was that the monsters in this dungeon would kill them.

Although Carl did not continue, Hopp understood what he meant.

Sitting on a rock with her chin propped on her hand, she watched Carl and blinked from time to time, seemingly lost in thought.

But through their psychic connection, Carl could sense Hopp's bewilderment.

"All right, we've rested enough. Let's find some food. People are made of iron, and food is steel. After being busy for so long, we haven't eaten anything at all."

By Carl's estimate, more than ten hours had passed since the Mind Flayers captured him. Coupled with the intense exertion earlier, his stamina was nearly depleted.

To maintain enough strength, they had to find something edible.