Rooar~!
Following the magic sigils floating above the human city ruins fading away, a loud roar echoed out from before several smaller bird monsters began circling around the city for a few minutes.
Whoosh~
Only after having made sure that there was no danger present, did a much larger flying monster appear above the human city ruins. Flapping its large wings as it remained in place for a few minutes observing the half-collapsed tower below before ultimately letting out another roar, causing the smaller bird monsters circling around the human city ruins to retreat before it retreated as well with a hint of disappointment in its eyes.
From this alone, it was clear that this flying monster was smarter than a normal monster, as it had somehow analyzed the state of the half-collapsed tower, but had found that it wasn’t yet in a state where it couldn’t defend itself. Forcing it to leave in disappointment, as it understood entering that half-collapsed tower while it could still defend itself meant certain death. Even for a monster as strong as it was.
Rustle~
Outside of this powerful monster, several other equally powerful monsters also approached the human city ruins to observe the half-collapsed tower before ultimately turning around to leave after coming to a similar conclusion to the flying monster. Leaving without doing anything outside of observing the tower for a short time.
In the process, none of them dared to step inside the human city ruins. Showing that they were clear about the danger hidden inside, something that the branch eater worm swarm should have known about in the past but had forgotten with time. Only to once again learn why they remained inside the forest and didn’t leave the place.
This was understandable to some extent, considering the overall lifespan of these branch eater worms were nowhere near the more powerful monsters, as their strongest point was never in one of them, but instead the terrifying swarm they could form.
And so, as the different powerful monsters turned and left after scouting out the situation of the half-collapsed tower, the human city once again returned to its quiet state. Not a single monster present inside the vast ruins, as those who had been hidden inside in the past, had either been killed earlier or were hidden away in some corner that the earlier scan of the city couldn’t detect them.
Among them was Scaly, though the reason why she had managed to avoid being blown up by a ball of fire was not because she had been able to avoid detection, but instead because her race was considered a neutral force in the eyes of the magic formation. Not that she would have any idea about this, as she remained asleep during the entire endeavor. Not even waking up when a group of branch eater worms had been blown up a dozen or so meters away from the building that the stairs, she was sleeping at the base of, led up towards.
Like this, a few hours soon flew by with nothing else happening in the city ruins above, before Scaly finally began waking up...
Mmm~? So comfortable~
Rolling around as she slowly opened her eyes after what she felt might have been one of the most comfortable sleeping experiences she had gone through so far, Scaly soon came to a stop, as her attention turned towards her status, curious to see what had changed during her recent level ups and the extended flight she had gone through.
Name: Scaly
Race: Young Tempest Dragon
Dragon blood: 21% (Common)
Level: 29/30, 37%
Mana Heart: First Circle
STR: 607 |VIT: 1087 | DEX: 579 | M: 1292
Magic: [Dragon Water Magic, lvl 6], [Ice Magic lvl 1], [Wind Magic, lvl 6], [Lightning Magic, lvl 2],
Skills: [Dragon Bloodline, lvl 4], [Dragon Flight, lvl 5], [Poison Resistance, lvl 3], [Dragon Claw Strike, lvl 7], [Dragon Breath (Water), lvl 3], [Corrosion Resistance, lvl 2], [Pain Resistance, lvl 5], [Swimming, lvl 4], [Dragon Heart, lvl 1], [Endless Vitality, lvl 1]
Looking at her status, it had not changed more than she had expected it to when she had checked it in the past. The only difference outside the increased level being that her dragon flight had increased from level 4 to level 5, something she had already expected to happen with how much she had flown during her escape from the branch eater swarm.
If the level of her dragon flight had not increased, that would be weirder, as even her wind magic had increased in level.
Although... Looking at how she was already 37% of the way to reaching level 30, she couldn’t help wondering just how many branch eater worms had ended up dying when the tunnel behind her had ended up collapsing.
Going by past increase in level from killing branch eater worms, she guessed that the total number of branch eater worms that perished during the tunnel collapse should be in the hundreds, a terrifying number that made her realize that those worms would do everything in their might to hunt her down in the future.
To avoid that, it looked like she would really have to start seriously learning a spell that could affect a large area to deal with this kind of swarm type monster. The problem was, she had no idea if she could even learn that kind of powerful magic with her current strength. After all, such large-scale magic was bound to require a tremendous amount of mana to use and though she had a lot of mana, she felt a bit doubtful she would have enough for the magic required to deal with so many branch eater worms at the same time.
Hm? Now that I’m thinking about them, I don’t feel them moving about anymore... Did they perhaps leave the human city ruins while I was asleep?
As her thoughts turned towards the branch eater worms that had forced her into her current situation, Scaly realized that she couldn’t hear the branch eater worms moving about above her any longer.
Rustle~
And so, to investigate if the branch eater worms had really left, she slowly made her way back up the stairs before pushing aside the secret door. Sneakily peeking out in search of the branch eater worms that should have been everywhere.
Nothing...?
But, instead of finding the branch eater worms, she was met with nothing but an empty building. Even glancing out of a nearby hole in the building, she couldn’t see any branch eater worms moving about outside.
Creaaak~
Feeling a bit more courageous without any branch eater worms in sight, Scaly slowly proceeded to push open the secret door before making her way out into the building before moving up a nearby staircase leading up to the top of the building.
This was not just because she wanted to get a better view of the city itself to see if the branch eater worms had really left like she was starting to suspect, but also because her wings had mostly recovered during her sleep. Meaning she could always fly off in case they were still around. Allowing her to escape before they had time to reach her.
Slipping away unnoticed might be difficult, but with the increased level of her dragon flight and wind magic, she felt confident that she might be able to outrun them this time around.
Even if she couldn’t, she doubted they would continue chasing her too far outside the forest, as they essentially had none of the trees that they would normally use to hide themselves.
With enough time, other monsters would pick up on this and start picking them off one by one.
The only reason this hadn’t happened yet was most likely because the monsters inside the forest were too terrified of them to act.
Thinking all of this to herself as she finally made it up to the roof of the building, Scaly quickly came to the realization that there was no need for her to worry about having to escape from the branch eater worms again.
The reason for this was rather simple, as the branch eater worms that had once been swarming the human city ruins had disappeared completely. Only leaving behind a few craters and dead bodies that hinted at them having encountered some kind of powerful monster while she had been asleep.
But... What kind of monster would be powerful enough to make even the branch eater swarm retreat in fear...?
Narrowing her eyes slightly at this thought, Scaly could not help shrinking her body to make her presence smaller.
Knowing that there was a very real possibility that the monster that had caused the branch eater worms to retreat could still be lurking somewhere inside the human city ruins... And although she had managed to fully recover her strength after her sleep, she didn’t feel entirely confident in facing a monster strong enough to force the branch eater worms into retreat.