Several minutes passed as Hazel continued digging a hole with the help of her mana bolt. With each bolt she fired, shards of dirt pelted the mage’s body and face. She had to raise her arms to shield herself from the debris occasionally.

Before Hazel could fire another spell, she felt a sharp pain throbbing in her skull. She stumbled back with a groan while clutching her head, desperately trying to keep the pain from getting worse.

“Crap…looks like I reach my limit again.”

Hazel had been firing her Mana Bolts for quite a bit. Despite how strong the spell appeared to be, digging a hole wasn’t an easy feat. She was making progress after taking a look at the rather deep hole before her.

It appeared to be about four to five feet deep. Hazel was around 5’8, so she needed to make the hole at least six feet long. There was another problem concerning this though, and that was the size of the crater.

Even though the hole was nearly six feet, it was no wider than a foot or less, which would make it a tight fit for Hazel. Normally, she wouldn’t mind squeezing in if it ensured her survival, but she also wanted to put her pack in the hole as well.

So, she needed to make her shelter bigger. Which meant this project would take a lot longer than she initially planned.

Sitting against a nearby tree, Hazel used the opportunity to catch a break before continuing her project. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she raised her head and stared at the trees and purple space above her.

Each star she saw through the leaves twinkled brightly, giving the illusion that they were extremely close. However, if that were the case, then they would have the appearance of the sun back on Earth.

“I never really thought about it,” She mumbled. “But I wonder what the constellations would be like after my world is merged. Would they be the same or would they be completely different? It really makes you wonder…”

Although it was a pointless thought, considering the circumstances, Hazel still couldn’t help but ponder over such a thing. And it was from this singular question that jump-started even more unrelated topics.

How different would her world be now that it was merged with another? Would certain buildings be combined? Would the planet itself get bigger to make up for the convergence? Would they undergo another continental drift? Did the continental drift already happen while she was stuck in this dungeon?

So many questions…and yet Hazel feared that none of them would be answered. Especially the important ones like the residents from the other world.

Would they be hostile to her world or would they try and seek peace? And would the people of her world accept such a thing? Considering how humans often fought amongst themselves in the past and even the present, Hazel had some doubts.

Despite their worlds merging, the people from both planets would likely treat the others as invaders. And by coming to that conclusion…a war for dominance would break out.

“A war…” Hazel muttered grimly. “I’m not looking forward to that future.”

Hazel had never experienced war before. She had only read and studied them back in school. It was thanks to this that she was very familiar with a couple of them like the World Wars, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and even the Cold War.

Despite each war being different from one another, the core aspect of their origins remained the same. Two or more parties were fighting one another due to different ideologies or ethics. Whether it was for freedom, religion, land, or something else, those were the main reasons why a war would start.

Two groups don’t see eye to eye with one another and they fight for dominance. And the aftermath would always end in tragedy. The most common being the countless deaths of soldiers and innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. This kind of outcome was normalized as casualties of war.

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No matter how many people were killed as the war raged on, it would never end. Not until one side won the conflict. In fact, it had been shown countless times that the deaths of civilians and soldiers only drove the two groups to prevail in the conflict.

Because, in their eyes, if they were to surrender now, the people they lost during this war would make their deaths meaningless. And that was the last thing either group would want for their people.

And with what she knew, there was no doubt in Hazel’s mind that the two worlds would wage war against one another. She was certain of this.

And Hazel couldn’t help but frown at this fact. She knew that War was inevitable, but at the same time, why was such a troublesome thing bound to occur?

Although she knew nothing of war, that didn’t stop her from hating it nonetheless. Even when the world was being administrated by some unknown force that merged their worlds together, that wasn’t going to stop either planet from waging war against one another.

“Even though we should focus on what this damn system wants, I already know that the people from both worlds are going to be fighting one another for whatever stupid reason…”

Hazel views the System itself as the big threat. And who could blame her? Not only did this System merge her world with another, but it also dumped her and every other living being in dangerous, life-threatening dungeons.

And for what purpose? To prepare them for whatever was to come? Or was it just a game designed by the System itself? The fact that there was an RPG mechanic told Hazel that this system just wanted to entertain itself. And it was using the civilians from both planets to achieve that goal.

Hazel clenched her hand into a fist. Her nails dug deeply into her palm, nearly drawing blood before she momentarily loosened her grip.

“This damn system…” She grumbled. “Dumping me in this place. Forcing me to fight for my life.”

While Hazel was grateful that the System allowed her to use magic, her obsession since childhood, she was beginning to realize just how problematic her situation had become, despite finally obtaining her dream.

Although she wanted to use magic, was being thrust into a perilous dungeon like this place worth all of that? Initially, Hazel would’ve agreed no matter what. But after enduring so much hardship while surviving this dungeon, she was beginning to reconsider the idea.

The novice mage shook her head after thinking this. “No, don’t think like that, Hazel.” She scolded herself. “You can’t turn back now. You already made your decision to use magic. You have to see this through. This is just the beginning.”

Hazel had no time to regret her choices. Not when she had to deal with this dungeon and the monsters inhabiting the place.

She already passed the point of no return. Which was why the only choice she had now…was to press on and keep moving.

Hazel was going to survive this dungeon and go home. She was going to get stronger and face whatever threats were waiting for her back in her newly merged world.

That was all that mattered right now. Any doubts, any regrets, any poor decisions she made in the past, she can’t afford to let any of that weigh her down. Not here, and certainly not now.

Feeling a fresh wave of determination build up within her, Hazel gripped her staff and stood back up. She then continued her work on the fox hole, slowly crafting the hole that she would use to sleep in.

A little while later, Hazel was finally done. Her hole was now complete.

The novice mage stood before her larger crater of a shelter. Six feet deep and three feet wide. Enough space for her to hide in and sleep without the possibility of being caught by monsters. But it wasn’t complete yet.

All that was left now was the cover.

Leaving her shelter, Hazel strolled deep within the forest in search of materials for her shelter. As she walked through the woods, the mage would pick up any large sticks that she could craft into her makeshift cover.

She also gathered a lot of moss, leaves, and vines. The vines would be used to tie the sticks together, while the moss and leaves would act as camouflage.

With her materials on hand, Hazel got to work molding her cover. She placed the sticks against one another. Then used the vine and secured the sticks, keeping them from falling apart.

The sticks secured tightly, Hazel proceeded to place the moss and leaves on top until the sticks beneath them were completely concealed. Once the cover was fully made, Hazel carried her item back to her shelter.

Returning to her little campsite, the mage placed the cover on top of her foxhole, hoping that it was big enough. And sure enough, it was. The cover completely covered the hole and appeared sturdy enough to walk on.

Cautiously, Hazel placed her entire weight on the cover, praying that it stayed in place. Thankfully, not a single snap from the sticks was heard, reassuring her of its durability.

Satisfied with her work, the mage stared at her foxhole with a delightful grin.

“Alright…the foxhole is now complete,” She declared. “Now, I need to get back to work.”

Hazel’s gaze trailed from the shelter to the forest around her. Although her base was more or less complete, she was far from finishing the day. There was still work to be done, and Hazel had plenty of energy to spare now.