Looking around herself trying to figure out if she might be able to push some of the rocks aside and squeeze herself out of the cave in that way, Scaly was soon disappointed to discover that even with her recent increase in strength, she was still far from strong enough to move the rocks that surrounded her, though, this was not so much because the rocks were that large, but more so that they also had quite a lot of things on top of them adding to the difficulty of moving them.
Of course, this was not even considering the fact that moving the rocks around her would cause the large rock currently above her to fall down on her. Although her strength should be enough to hold it up for a bit, it wouldn’t be more than a few minutes before she would be crushed under the immense weight of the rock.
How to get out of this place... Maybe... Try and use my new lighting or wind magic?
Not able to think of a way to get out just through her increased physical strength, Scaly ultimately ended up turning her attention towards her new lightning and wind magic. Wondering if the two new magics might be able to help her find a way out of her current situation.
Even if she had no idea how wind or lightning would help in her current situation, she didn’t really have any other idea on how to get out of her current predicament, as water magic wouldn’t really have much of a use on the rocks all around her.
The only thing she could try and do with her water magic would be to slowly chip away at the rocks and try to carve a path out of the-
Wait... That is not a bad idea!
Suddenly realizing that her water magic might be far more useful than she had first thought, Scaly didn’t waste a second as she threw the wind and lightning magic to the back of her mind and instead focused on conjuring a small water blade in the small space in front of herself before she carefully commanded it to slash down at the nearby rocks-
Chiing~!
Following which an almost metallic sound echoed out from the rocks as her water blade was destroyed. Only leaving behind a small white mark on the rock.
I should try and use more mana to make the water blade sharper.
Not discouraged by this as the mana she had infused into the water blade was far less than normal, Scaly began to slowly add more mana to the water blade. Knowing that if she ended up using too much mana, there was a good chance she would run out of mana before she could cut her way through the rocks and get back to the surface.
Ching~
Ching~
Chiiing~
Soon enough, the melodious sound of metal being struck echoed throughout the collapsed cave for any insect or monster small enough to have made a new home inside the collapsed cave to hear until-
Swish-!
Scaly successfully managed to cut through the rock. Leaving behind a smooth surface from where she had cut, as the piece of rock that had been cut off fell to the ground. Highlighting another problem she would have to solve... What to do with the rocks that had been cut off to form the passage through the rocks?
This problem was not one she had thought of before, but now that she had successfully found a way to leave the collapsed cave, she was not willing to give up just like that, as she continued to cut out a path through the rocks for now, while thinking about a way to deal with smaller rocks now blocking her path later.
After a little over 15 minutes passed like this and she had managed to create a somewhat stable tunnel through the rocks just barely large enough for her to fit through, Scaly couldn’t continue working on her tunnel, as she was not able to cut into the rock precisely from how far away she was standing. Not to mention, she also had to slightly turn the path every now and then to ensure stability. Making the endpoint only barely visible from where she was.
If she wanted to continue, she had to move the smaller rocks blocking her path and enter the tunnel.
Rustle~
So, with that in mind, Scaly got to work, as she squeezed herself up against the side of the small space she had gone through her fourth evolution in before starting to slowly move the smaller rocks into the space that had been created by her.
Soon enough, creating enough space for her to move into the tunnel and start filling up the space behind her.
Unfortunately, even though this method worked without any problems, and she was slowly moving through the tunnel, it was far too slow. By the point she reached the end of the tunnel and could once again start cutting away at the rocks, an hour had passed.
Although her control was far better compared to the last time she had gone through her evolution, she could already feel the hunger from going through an evolution starting to bear down on her as a painful feeling began spreading in her stomach, something Scaly recognized as hunger.
However, the worst part was not the pain she felt from hunger, but instead the fact that her accuracy in using her water blade had worsened along with the hunger as her mind was slowly being clouded by thoughts of finding something to eat as fast as possible.
This was definitely not something ordinary that would happen just because she was a bit hungry. Instead, it seemed to be a symptom that came from the specific hunger after going through an evolution.
If she didn’t get out of the collapsed cave before these thoughts of eating took over, she wouldn’t be able to find anything to eat and feared that she would just end up starving to death by eating the only thing that came to her mind when looking around herself, the small rocks she had cut off behind her.
Dying from eating rocks... She truly did not want to end up like that!
So, even if it compromised the stability of her tunnel, Scaly continued cutting through the rocks. Ignoring the trembling of the nearby rocks as they came under far too much stress for them to handle on their own.
All the tunnel had to do was to hold on for long enough that she could get out. After that, she didn’t really care about whether or not it collapsed.
At least, she didn’t have to worry about going in the wrong way, as she could still follow the slight breeze that drifted into the collapsed cave from the entrance. Allowing her to at least know that she wasn’t going in a completely wrong direction while cutting her way through the rocks.
Hm? The way out!
It was like this, another hour painfully flew by, as Scaly’s mental state continued worsening along with her ability to cut a proper tunnel before she finally reached the incline leading up towards the entrance of the tunnel.
The only problem, the rocks she cut out for a path upwards ended up directly falling down on her after she started working her way upwards.
In the end, the only way for her to continue forward was to move forward while she cut out the tunnel while doing her best to endure the rocks falling on her from above.
Luckily, her recent increase in strength had also increased the defensive capabilities of her scales. Allowing her to mostly shrug off the rocks that fell on her.
The only exception to this being some rather sharp rocks that managed to cut into some of her less protected locations, though, she didn’t have the time to care about this as she continued pushing her way forward. Only wanting to get out of the collapsed cave before it was too late.
Hoping that there wouldn’t be any too powerful monsters around, as she wasn’t really in an optimal state to fight in at the moment.
Bang!
And it was like that, after over two hours of cutting through rocks and digging her way out, Scaly successfully managed to breach through the few rocks blocking the entrance of the collapsed cave. Reaching the surface after having spent an unknown amount of time below ground during her fourth evolution.
Squeak?
[Suculent Mountain Rabbit, lvl really delicious]
F-food?
Following her successfully making it out of the collapsed cave, a familiar looking rabbit greeted her, though the result of her inspection seemed to have been clouded by her current state of mind, as her mouth started watering at the sight of the delicious looking mountain rabbit.
SQUEAK!
Realizing how dangerous its current situation was after meeting Scaly’s gaze, the mountain rabbit turned around to flee-
Ptsh-!
[Gained 256 Exp]
Unfortunately, it was too slow, as it soon became the first prey of the recently evolved Scaly...