But what is that dragon blood thing that appeared beneath my race?
As she finished looking through the rest of her status screen, Scaly could not help focusing her attention on the new thing that had appeared below her race, with a curious expression on her face.
Although she had no idea what it was about, she didn’t take long to connect it with the change in her race, having officially become a dragon. Not just that, but from what the dragon bloodline skill had mentioned after reaching level 4, it seemed like the concentration of dragon blood in her body had gone up from 1% to 2% after she finished her evolution.
Even though it didn’t seem to have increased by that much and her dragon bloodline still remained at level 4, she had essentially managed to double the amount of dragon blood flowing through her body after her evolution.
[Dragon blood: 2% (Inferior)]
[Description: The concentration of dragon blood in your body. Current concentration, Inferior.]
Not just that, but when she focused her attention on it, she was forced to see yet another description calling her inferior.
Couldn’t those damnable floating screens stop it!? Why did they keep calling her inferior after she took the major step of becoming a dragon!? Couldn’t they praise her for her awesomeness after she went from a normal small dungeon lizard to a mythical dragon!?
Whoosh~!
Deciding not to bother with the floating screens any longer, Scaly angrily waved her claws in the air where the screens were located. Closing them before moving on to the second most important thing after she finished her evolution, food.
Huh? W-what happened to my food!?
However, as she turned in the direction of the large pile of dead monsters that she had deliberately prepared for her evolution, Scaly was shocked to discover that the pile of dead bodies had turned into a rotten hellscape, as countless magots could be seen happily enjoying themselves inside.
From a glance, it was obvious that the monsters had ended up rotting. Already having entered the stage of putrefaction, some of the smaller monsters even having entered the stage of black putrefaction, something that would at least take 10 or so days given their size.
Not that Scaly would have any clue about the stages of decay, as all she could do was lament over the food that she had prepared rotting away in front of her when she needed it the most.
Although she wasn’t exactly a picky eater, the hellscape in front of her wasn’t the slightest bit appetizing to her, as she quickly made her way out of the cave to find something to eat before the hunger that had somehow remained dormant so far appeared. At the same time, also wanting to find a body of water that she could use to check out her new appearance and how she looked after officially becoming a dragon.
Considering how awesome the drake she had seen flying into the mountain range earlier looked, she was certain that she would look fearsome and awe inspiring even at her small size. After all, she was still a dragon, an intimidating appearance was a given!
...
Back on the third floor of the dungeon, when Scaly was still in the process of going through her third evolution peacefully, unaware of the maggot mountain growing not too far away from her, the knight of the crimson flame and the adventurer who had gone to get him arrived at the town where the guardian barrier was still shining brightly as it prevented anyone from entering the town.
"Hm... Around three or four days left before that barrier disperses naturally. Looks like I had more than enough time to get here." Seeing the guardian barrier, the crimson flame knight muttered this to himself before turning his attention towards the small camp that had sprung out just outside the guardian barrier.
Considering that the group that had come to investigate the situation couldn’t enter the town and start doing their job, the adventurers that had tagged along for the purpose of finding and killing the monster behind the activation of the guardian barrier could only stay behind and protect them in case any monsters appeared.
After all, with the strength of the apprentice mages who hadn’t faced any real combat and had spent most of their time studying so far, even a simple big forest rabbit would be more than enough to massacre them.
Not to mention, the guild leader of the Howling Caverns Branch was worried about the possible crimes of the branch guild leader in charge of the dungeon town. Meaning there was no way he would dare leave the apprentice mages to search for the monster behind the activation of the guardian barrier.
"But I wonder... Who is this branch guild leader? To be daring enough to do something like that with this fellow as the person in charge of things... Haaa... Oh well, there will always be dumb people no matter where one goes..." Shaking his head as he said this with a hint of pity in his voice, the crimson flame knight spotted the guild leader emerging from one of the tents before waving him over from afar. Clearly eager to get things going and capture the branch leader hiding away inside the town.
Whoosh~!
Disapearing from his original location, the crimson flame knight almost looked like he teleported due to his terrifying speed, as he arrived directly in front of the guild leader the next second.
"Huh?"
In turn, the B Rank Adventurer who had been following him could not help opening his mouth in shock, as he looked at the place he had just been standing and the place he was now standing at right next to the guild leader. Not able to understand what had happened or how someone could even move so fast.
Even if the difference between the A Rank and B Rank is big, it shouldn’t be this big. Right...?
Staring dumbly into the distance, the B Rank Adventurer didn’t come back to his senses again before the crimson knight and the guild leader had disappeared inside one of the tents to discuss the situation of how to get into the town and catch the branch guild leader in charge of the town before he had a chance to run away.
"Why don’t I just break the guardian barrier? This way, we can take him out in the before he has time to prepare for escaping when the guardian barrier normally runs out of mana."
"This... Isn’t the guardian barrier too strong?"
"I’m not considered strong even among A Rank Adventurers for nothing old man! Although the guardian barrier is strong, it’s only able to hold on against normal A Rank monsters for a little over a day. Not to mention its already running low on mana, as long as I overwhelm, I should be able to break it with a single strike!"
In the end, the conversation about how to deal with the guardian barrier didn’t last long, as the crimson knight confidently stepped up and said he would deal with it. Planning on directly breaking the guardian barrier and catching the branch guild leader in the town off guard.
"This... You sure have grown confident from back then, I still remember how you came crying to me after your first-"
"Old man! Don’t you dare bring up my past!"
"Hoho, I guess you still feel a bit embarrassed about your youth."
"Old man! You’re only in your late forties! Stop talking like your already in your twilight years!"
"Is that so? I guess its because someone keeps causing trouble that this old man has to clean up..."
"This- I-"
As the conversation on how to deal with the branch leader in the town had come to an end, the crimson flame knight and the branch guild leader of the Hollow Cavern Dungeon began talking with each other like parent and child meeting up again.
"""..."""
Witnessing all of this, the rest of the B Rank Adventures, who had all joined in for the discussion, had no idea what to say as they just remained quiet in a corner of the tent.
Considering that one of the people talking was the famed knight of the crimson flame, a powerful adventurer that surpassed the level of ordinary adventurers and even showed hope of ascending to the realm above that of the A Rank in the future, none of them dared to say anything out of fear that they would somehow end up getting dragged into the conversation.
Out of all of them, the only person who could converse with such a terrifying figure was the guild leader. After all, compared to them who had no relation with the knight of the crimson flame, the branch guild leader had been the one to take in and raise the crimson flame knight during his youth.
In simple terms, he could be considered the father of the crimson flame knight... Or at least the father that stepped up...