But he now faced an embarrassing problem—he didn't know much about the 2nd-level artificer spells.
After all, before this, Carl didn't know that he would be captured by the Mind Flayer to be used as transformation material, and he didn't have the habit of previewing professional knowledge for the next school year in advance.
Using a 2nd-level spell slot to cast a 1st-level spell would certainly enhance the spell's effect, but to be honest, instead of wasting that spell slot, Carl would be better off hitting the enemy one more time.
Carl was busy redesigning the thrusters of the power armor until he woke up.
…
"morning!"
Waking up from bed, Carl greeted Hope, then got up and got out of bed.
Hope had already started her morning exercise at this time. Sweat slid down her skin and gathered into a small pool on the ground.
"Well! Good morning, what are you going to eat later?"
"Ha, do we have a choice? Fire snake meat, of course."
According to the previous plan, the two were going out to explore today.
The mysterious goblin tribe that brought the Salamanders from the Elemental Plane of Fire to the dungeon was still a long way from where the two were now.
If they set out today, they would be able to reach each other's location in about 10 days.
The noise made by the giant mine cart when it started was too loud. In order to avoid being discovered, the two chose to walk in a more stealthy manner.
After preparing breakfast on the stove, Carl first took care of his personal hygiene near the elemental pool, and then activated the energy center and released some liquid Eberron Dragon Crystal.
The orange-yellow liquid quickly expanded after dripping down and turned into crystals. Carl produced about 5 kilograms in a row before finally stopping.
If everything goes well, the two will never come back here again.
Before leaving, they should take with them as many useful things as possible.
When Carl returned to the room, Hope had already washed up. The two finished their breakfast and then took all their things and left.
…
“Boom boom boom…”
On the west side of the lava cave, Carl, wearing power armor, attacked the huge rocks in front of him with Thunder Fist.
The damage caused by thunder to rocks was quite destructive. After just a few hits, cracks appeared on the boulders.
"Click"
As the boulders broke, surging groundwater flowed into the lava tube.
"Hold me tight!"
Holding Hope in his arms, Carl activated the thrusters of the power armor.
Jet ports on his legs and back released blue flames, and Carl soared into the sky, diving headfirst into the cave where underground water was gushing out.
According to the memory of the original salamander, this place is connected to a small river leading to the surface.
Because he didn't like the spring, the fire lizard blocked it with boulders, lava and his own body.
Once entering the water, the resistance instantly increases.
But the buoyancy also reduced some of the weight of Carl's power armor.
Against the current, the two continued to move forward.
When Carl's dragon crystal had temporarily used up its energy, the two had arrived at a shallow water area.
“Snap!”
Hope stood on the shore in his wet boots, keeping an eye on his surroundings.
This is not the surface of the underground city yet, but an underground river tunnel in the middle rock layer.
This kind of environment is exactly where various dark creatures like to live, such as pythons.
Considering the fact that salamanders were spreading around, Hope and Carl had to be on guard.
After listening carefully for a while, Karl pointed in one direction of the underground river tunnel and said, "Go this way. There seems to be the sound of flowing water over here."
The further you go, the lower the water temperature becomes.
Hope himself is not used to low temperature environments. After walking for a while, he felt his legs were numb.
There was no choice, Carl had to hold Hope and keep moving forward.
"By the way, dip your finger in the river water and lick it to see if it's bitter."
After walking forward for a long time, Karl suddenly remembered something.
Saltpeter dissolves in water and absorbs heat, so where saltpeter is abundant, the water becomes cold and bitter.
After licking his fingers as Carl said, Hope frowned slightly and nodded.
Seeing Hope like this, Carl was basically certain that there must be a saltpeter mine nearby.
"No wonder there was black gunpowder in the goblin tribe before. I didn't expect the mineral veins here are quite rich."
While chatting with Hope, the dragon crystal on the chest of Carl's power armor suddenly changed from purple-red to blue-purple.
This means that the fire element energy has been restored.
"Hold tight!"
After weighing Hope in his hand, Carl started the jet again and rushed forward.
The further we go, the faster the water flows.
Finally, an underground waterfall appeared at the end of the tunnel.
"If nothing goes wrong, this is the river in Salamander's memory. Let's go!"
Feeling that there was still a lot of energy left in the dragon crystal, Carl activated the jet with all his strength and rushed to the top of the waterfall with Hope.
“Plop!”
A few minutes later, the two broke through the water and returned to the surface of the underground city.
Surrounding it is a rocky river beach. In the distance, a familiar monitor lizard is leisurely strolling by the river.
Raising his left arm, Carl activated his rifle.
A series of bullets flew out, and several monitor lizards that were unable to dodge were killed on the spot.
Hope walked forward skillfully and skinned and boned the monitor lizard.
Although the two of them had accumulated a lot of fire snake meat, the more food reserves the better.
Just as the two were about to move forward, a blinding flash of fire suddenly erupted from the direction of the mushroom forest.
"Fortunately, we didn't come to the surface from the previous pool, otherwise we might have been affected."
Looking at the small mushroom cloud rising into the sky, Carl's face under the power armor was full of fear.
This place is not too far from the mushroom forest, but the fact that we can see the fire here proves that the power of the explosion cannot be too small.
However, this has nothing to do with Carl and Hope for the time being. Their next main task is to go to the goblin tribe in the fire lizard's memory and find a way to return to the main plane.
…
Meanwhile, in the mushroom forest.
On the battlefield, a coalition of six major goblin tribes is fighting the Nautilus spacecraft.
The barbarians of the Fury Tribe and the warriors of the Devouring Tribe acted as the vanguard, the bards of the Mocking Tribe added buffs to the warriors, the wanderers of the Shadow Tribe tried to sneak into the Nautilus, and the warriors of the Guard Tribe commanded the battle while operating engineering weapons to attack the Nautilus.
The only logistics is the Traveler Tribe. As the tribe that has preserved the civilization of the Dagon Empire most completely, they still master some of the technology of that time.
At this time, the members of the Traveler Tribe, mainly consisting of hobgoblins and ordinary goblins, were manufacturing various equipment and engineering machinery behind the battlefield.
No one knew how long the battle would last, but the goblins knew that if they lost, the mind flayers would enslave them.
(End of this chapter)