So... What should she be doing next?
To be honest, Scaly’s first thought when this question emerged was to start looking for monsters to hunt down so she could reach level 30 and evolve again, but... The massive increase in strength she had just experienced from eating a few branch eater worms stopped her from acting like she normally would. For the first time since she had stepped inside the human city ruins, she found herself feeling curious about this abandoned city.
Not because she suddenly gained a new appreciation for human cities, but instead because she wondered if there would be more things hidden inside the human city ruins that would be capable of increasing her strength in a similar way as the corpse of the branch eater worms had done after they had been killed inside the human city ruins.
After all, even though she wanted to believe that every branch eater worm would increase her strength, she had already tested the situation earlier and understood that the increase in strength only came from her eating the still hot branch eater worms, the normal branch eater worms didn’t bring any benefits.
Hmmm... Exploring this place could help increase my strength by a lot. Not to mention, the monster that took care of the branch eater worms should have already left...
Glancing around at her desolate surroundings as she thought this to herself, Scaly found herself slowly nodding her head in agreement with herself.
No matter how much she wanted to increase her level and go through her next evolution, the terrifying increase in strength she had just experienced was simply far too much for her to ignore, as even a single evolution wouldn’t bring this kind of terrifying improvement.
Rustle~
So, having come to a decision, Scaly didn’t hesitate as she began wandering around the human city ruins in search of something that would be able to increase her strength in the same way that the still hot and crispy branch eater worms had been able to do.
As for how she would be able to tell if something would be able to increase her strength from among the ruins...
[Rock]
[Description: A normal rock that can be found almost everywhere in the world. Nothing special.]
[Specially Treated Wooden Door]
[Description: A high-quality wooden door that has been engraved with a preservation sigil. Stronger and lasts longer than a normal wooden door. Not dragon proof.]
[Stone with unknown letters on it]
[Description: A larger than normal stone made from... Stone... Covered in letters you don’t understand. Maybe it’s a good idea to learn how to read~]
Using her inspection ability, she was able to easily tell if something was special, though, it did seem intent on annoying her with strange messages added on top of the relatively normal descriptions.
Ignoring the annoying additions, she soon found herself moving from a state that was filled to the brim with anticipation, to utter disappointment, as there was absolutely nothing that could help her increase her strength scattered throughout the ruins.
At first, it was fine, as she didn’t expect to find something immediately, but as a few minutes turned into half an hour, she slowly began to give up on finding something that could help her improve like she had done after eating the still smoldering branch eater worms.
Hmph! Hmph! Waste of time! I could have already reached level 30 if I left the human city earlier and went out to hunt for monsters!
Reading an especially annoying description after inspecting what had looked like a valuable object, Scaly found herself regretting ever staying inside the human city to search for something that would be able to help increase her strength.
The branch eater worms had been great and all, but it was clear that it wasn’t that simple to find something able to help increase her strength without leveling up normally.
Just you wait little monsters! Today I, the Great Dragon Scaly, will reach level 30!
Filled with determination to reach level 30, Scaly gave up on continuing to search through the human city any longer. Wasting no time before moving back in the direction of-
Wait... Am I lost...?
About to head in the direction of the city gate that she had entered the human city through in the past before making her way back in the direction of the forest where monsters were abundant, Scaly suddenly realized that she had no idea what direction the gate was.
No... It wasn’t just the gate, she had no idea where anything was, as all she saw around her were strange buildings that had partially fallen apart. If she wanted to find an exit by just walking around the human city ruins, she might end up being stuck inside the rather large human city for days without finding a way out.
Whoosh~
Luckily, she had wings and could easily lift herself into the air with the help of wind magic to get a better view of her current location and find out the closest path to the forest from where she was.
However, as she ascended, it didn’t take her long to realize that she was right next to the center of the human city ruins. The center being a rather sizeable tower that had partially collapsed, with a large part of it having crashed into the ground almost directly next to her. Having crushed dozens of buildings in the process when it had broken off from the rest of the tower in the past.
Originally, she wouldn’t have cared much for a broken human building, but for some reason, she found herself oddly drawn towards the remaining half of the tower that still stood standing at the center of the city. Albeit with countless cracks running all the way from the base of the tower to the very point where the upper part of the tower had broken off in the past. Looking like it could collapse at any moment.
I already wasted so much time... Staying a bit longer won’t hurt...
Feeling the odd draw from the still standing base of the tower, Scaly ultimately ended up convincing herself to stay for just a bit longer to explore this broken tower. In any case, she didn’t think it would take long to explore what remained of the tower, just peeking her head inside to inspect the interior would be more than enough to satiate her curiosity before she had to focus on the more important matter of reaching level 30 so she could go through her next evolution and finally get the chance to start thinking about taking revenge on a few monsters who had caused her trouble in the past.
Among them, the baby kraken from the previous floor was on the top of the list, though... She might have to save it for last with how powerful it was...
Swish~ Thump!
Gliding down from above before landing at the entrance to what remained of what should have been a glorious looking tower in the past, Scaly found herself curiously examining her surroundings for any sign of treasures that would be able to increase her strength.
[Defensive Sigil]
[Description: One of the fundamental sigils used in the construction of magic formations. Touching it might do something...]
Unfortunately, the only thing she saw was defensive sigils-
[Defensive Sigil]
[Defensive Sigil]
[Defensive Sigil]
[Defensive Sigil]
[Defensive Sigil]
[Defensive...]
A lot of defensive sigils, enough to cover every inch of what was left of the tower in front of her.
Do these things do anything when touching them...?
Seeing all these defensive sigils, Scaly could not help feeling the curiosity that had been ignited inside her recently flaring up, as she decisively decided to act on her thoughts.
Tap~ Tap~ Tap~
Reaching out one of her claws to gently tap one of the defensive sigils. Only to end up disappointed when nothing happened. Part of her having hoped the defensive sigil would do something when she touched it, like increase her defensive power or something.
Unsurprisingly the description had been misleading her into tapping the defensive sigil for no reason.
Leaving her with only one thing left to do before turning around to make her way back towards the forest filled with monsters to increase her level to 30, take a quick peek inside the tower and see if there was anything of interest inside.
Rustle~
Not one to waste time after deciding what to do, she acted on this immediately. Poking her head through the somewhat narrow entrance that had been partially blocked off by large stones that should have fallen from above when the upper part of the tower had broken off in the past.
Stone... Stone... More stones aaaaand stone~!
In the end, there was nothing of interest inside the tower. Only countless piles of stones that made the interior of the tower difficult to navigate-
[Neutral lifeform detected...]
Or that was at least her thoughts before a strange voice suddenly echoed out from the tower. Catching her completely off guard...