Following the path that the heavenly lake serpents had escaped in the past, Scaly soon found herself making her way away from the center of the mountain range. Moving further towards the seemingly endless grass plains that she had first found herself after reaching the fourth floor of the dungeon.
Did those heavenly lake serpents perhaps decide to try and hide in the tall grass?
Thinking of this to herself as the familiar tall grass slowly came into view, Scaly could not help wondering whether or not the heavenly lake serpents had decided to hide themselves in the tall grass while recovering from their earlier battle.
Even if it was a bit unrealistic given their size towering above even the tallest grass on the plains, they should at least be able to somewhat blend into their surroundings as rather conspicuous hills on the plains.
However, before she got the chance to start looking for any hills that might have sprung up on the relatively flat grass plain, Scaly found herself standing in front of a large hole in the ground hidden between a few mountains that made it impossible to spot without getting close.
The hole or sink hole in question had several smaller mountain streams or rivers flowing into it. Creating a dozen or so small waterfalls in the process that all connected into what looked like a massive underground river that ran beneath the mountain range itself.
Glancing towards the direction that the underground river came from, it seemed to also be running beneath the grass plains, though, from the direction of the water, it was clear that it originated from somewhere inside the mountain range or at least on the other side of it.
Although... Remembering the crater lake where she had first encountered the heavenly lake serpents along with the heavenly waterfall that seemed to be filling up the crater lake itself, Scaly had a premonition that it might be the starting point of the massive underground river. The water being fed through the tunnel she had first used to climb up to the crater lake itself.
As for the size of the river not fitting with the water that could flow through the tunnel, she had seen... It was most likely due to the fact that the river had been fed by several sources instead of just one single source. After all, she was currently at the edge of the mountain range. Having passed through countless large mountains that in turn had different ways that fed into the massive underground river, though not as much as the one with the crater lake, it would still add up with time.
Not to mention... She wasn’t accounting for any other magical water generation methods like the heavenly waterfall feeding into the crater lake...
Shaking her head as she thought about this, Scaly focused her attention back on trying to find any obvious clues about whether or not the heavenly lake serpents had decided to enter the massive underground river.
After all, even though she already knew that the heavenly lake serpents lived in water and there was a good chance that they would have fled into the underground river in front of her, she also understood that entering the underground river in front of her was not that simple.
Even if she could now use her wind magic to fly to some extent, it would be hard for her to get back out of the underground river after she entered it.
The main reason being that from the start of the sink hole and down into the top part of the underground river, there was more than a dozen meters, a distance that would be hard for her to traverse with her current flying ability and wind magic.
As for trying to climb back up... The wet rocks essentially made something like that impossible with her current rather chubby looking shape compared to her former more sleek and manurable lizard form...
Hm? That is... A fish?
[Fatty Yellow Cave Fish, lvl 24]
[Description: A large plump fish that is well known as a delicacy among both humans and monsters alike, though it’s often known as one of the main preys hunted by the heavenly lake serpents and can be found everywhere from underground river systems to the crater lakes of the tallest mountains.]
Reading the description of the fish monster that momentarily jumped out of the rushing river water before diving back in, Scaly could not help feeling both of her eyes starting to shine. Not just because of the description referring to the fish monster as a delicacy, but also because it directly referred to heavenly lake serpents.
In the end, with the confirmation that this fish was one of the primary preys of the heavenly lake serpents, Scaly became certain that the heavenly lake serpents should have escaped into the underground river in front of her-
Swish-!
And so, without much hesitation, Scaly jumped off the side of the sink hole and unfurled her small wings. Slowly starting to descend towards the underground river below...
Whoosh~
Of course, to ensure that she didn’t end up plummeting into the water filled with possibly dangerous monsters with her limited water combat experience, Scaly used her wind magic to remain floating close to the ceiling of the underground river as she followed it.
Luckily, the underground river itself slowly descended further down into the depths of the earth. Allowing her to keep floating down the river without using too much of her mana in the process.
Although... She did feel a bit worried watching the light from the sink hole slowly disappearing before being replaced by a familiar sense of darkness she hadn’t experienced since her time in the caves of the second floor of the dungeon.
Wait... how will I get out of this place again...?
Only at this moment did this rather important thought occurred to her, as Scaly suddenly realized that it wasn’t really feasible for her to go back the same way that she had entered the underground river through with her current level of wind magic...