Not leaving immediately after she made it back up the ledge overlooking the farm field of the mountain gnolls, Scaly slowly peered over the edge of the ledge as she looked down towards the large dead body of the heavenly lake serpent that now had a dozen or so bodies of mountain gnolls all around it because of her earlier attack.
The reason she decided to stay was because she wanted to hopefully figure out just how strong the mountain gnolls were and whether or not it would be safe for her to move deeper inside their core territory or if she would have to wait until she became stronger.
At the same time, also intending to try and she whether or not the one to show up was a powerful mountain gnoll or if the attack from the heavenly lake serpents had injured them and prevented them from leaving their tribe at the moment.
If that turned out to be the case, the mountain gnolls who would soon show up shouldn’t be much stronger than the two stronger mountain gnolls she killed a short time earlier, which would give her far more freedom when it came to hunting down the rest of the mountain gnolls while she was still just barely at the start of her fourth evolution.
Rumble~!
As she was wondering what kind of mountain gnoll would show up in response to her attack, a distinct rumbling sound echoed out from the direction of the main tribe of the mountain gnolls in the distance. Followed by a large number of familiar looking mountain gnolls riding atop large grey wolves heading towards the dead body of the heavenly lake serpents...
[Mountain Gnoll, Wolf Rider, lvl 46]
[Mountain Gnoll, Wolf Rider, lvl 47]
[Mountain Gnoll, Wolf Rider Captain, lvl 52]
[Grey Wolf, lvl 33]
[Grey Wolf, lvl 28]
[Grey...]
And after a quick inspection of the approaching mountain gnolls, she realized that these mountain gnolls were none other than the ones who had come chasing after her when they had discovered she was the one who had eaten the mountain dwelling troll that they had defeated.
The only change compared to the past was that their strength had increased by a bit compared to last time she saw them, while their overall numbers seemed to have decreased significantly.
Although there were still a lot of wolf riding mountain gnolls present, compared to the past, close to half of them had disappeared. Indicating that they were either still recovering back in the tribe or had been killed by the heavenly lake serpents when they attacked the tribe.
No matter what it was, it showed that the damage to the mountain gnolls had indeed been rather significant. Especially considering that the strength of the mountain gnolls who had come out to check on the situation was weaker than she had expected.
Even if a few of them were stronger than the two mountain gnolls she had killed just now, it wasn’t by much. Meaning that this commotion was too small to attract the stronger mountain gnolls or, like she thought, the stronger mountain gnolls had not yet recovered from their injuries and thus couldn’t leave the main tribe at the moment.
Of course, given the powerful lighting magic she had used, she doubted that it was the first and was more inclined to believe that it was the second reason. Especially considering that the distance between the farm field and the main tribe wasn’t more than a few thousand meters, an easy distance to cross for what she presumed to at least be a Lord level mountain gnoll.
But... With this, it should be fine for me to continue hunting down the mountain gnolls around the edges of the main tribe, as long as I leave fast, I should be able to avoid those wolf riding mountain gnolls.
Narrowing both her eyes as she thought this to herself while staring down at the large number of mountain gnolls that had by now reached the dead body of the heavenly lake serpent and started to investigate the surroundings, Scaly came to a decision of her next plan of action. Intending to target the mountain gnolls to increase her level, while at the same time taking revenge on them from their previous less than amicable meetings.
Of course, the reason she didn’t intend on trying to fight the mountain gnolls below was rather simple, as there were far too many of them.
Even if she had become far stronger than she was in the past and not a single one of the mountain gnolls below was her opponent, their numbers alone made up for this. Not to mention, even if she did succeed in winning against them, the commotion would almost certainly draw out the more powerful mountain gnolls hidden inside the main tribe.
After all, even if they were injured and wouldn’t normally act because of this, it would be different if she decided to act so brazenly and openly start a large-scale battle right at their doorstep.
Rustle~
So, with that in mind, Scaly glanced down at the mountain gnolls still busy trying to understand what had happened to their fellow mountain gnolls, before turning around and disappearing back inside the forest behind her.
Not intending to waste any more time after confirming that she could continue hunting down mountain gnolls, as she began heading towards another farm field, she had spotted adjacent to the one she had just been to.
The main reason she didn’t really notice this farm field beforehand being because it was hidden by a few smaller mountains that made it impossible for her to see without descending into the farm field with the dead heavenly lake serpent in it.
The path leading to said farm field had also been blocked off by the mountain gnolls, as she would have to pass through some kind of guarded tunnel through one of the mountains or have to climb over it.
Killing the few guarding mountain gnolls was a relatively simple solution and not too difficult to accomplish, as they were only around level 40. Far from enough to pose any real challenge to the current Scaly.
However, after careful consideration, she decided on climbing over the smaller mountains. The reason being that she feared killing the mountain gnolls at the entrance to the hidden away farm field might result in the other mountain gnolls being alerted about the situation faster.
Instead of that, by climbing over the smaller mountains, she would be able to enter the hidden farm field without being noticed. Giving her more than enough time to kill off all of the mountain gnolls inside... And as a hidden bonus, if she could stop any of them from escaping and alerting the mountain gnolls outside, the mountain gnolls guarding the tunnel would serve as perfect sign to any passing mountain gnoll that nothing was wrong inside.
Thump!
Huh?
However, as she reached the top of one of the smaller mountains, Scaly suddenly bumped into something and found herself rolling back a few meters with a confused expression on her face.
Wha-What was that?
Not understanding what had just happened, Scaly cautiously jumped back up on her feet before she began moving towards the top of the mountain once again-
Thump~
And just like before, she seemed to walk directly into an invisible wall of some kind, the only difference being that she was fully prepared this time around and didn’t end up tumbling back down the mountain.
Tap~ Tap~
Filled with confusion over what had just happened, Scaly decided to carefully tap the invisible wall in front of her, but as nothing happened, she grew bolder and tried scratching it with her claws before finally trying to use more strength.
Bang!
However, the result was the same, as she couldn’t seem to do anything to the invisible wall. Only ending up wasting the little mana she had managed to recover during her trip from the nearby forest up the side of the mountain.
Maybe only my lightning magic can pierce through this invisible wall, but... Using it will use up all of my mana and end up alerting the mountain gnolls about my presence. Ruining any plans for killing the mountain gnolls on the other side...
Frowning to herself as she thought about this, Scaly could not help glancing down at the farm field below. Unfortunately, everything outside the entrance to the farm field encircled by smaller mountains, had been covered by a cloud. Making it impossible for her to see more than the starting part of the farm field where a few tall plants were being meticulously cared for by a few mountain gnolls.
Back down on the ground, she couldn’t see deeper inside the farm field either, as these tall plants had also been blocking her view, but it wasn’t that difficult for her to guess that it shouldn’t be much different from the other farm fields. Only that this one seemed to grow something a bit different and with a bit more importance to the mountain gnolls.
Not really anything Scaly cared about, outside of the fact that there were more mountain gnolls present inside this more important farm field.