Sleeping soundly without any idea about how close to ending up dead she had been, Scaly continued laying on top of bed while time passed. The main difference compared to the first week of her sleeping being that the monster that had made its way inside the ancient stone watchtower now appeared once every day to try and break through the bookshelf blocking the way up to the top floor where she was sleeping, something that always ended up in failure, as the bookshelf was truly made out of some kind of indestructible material. Even being scorched daily and attacked, the wooden-looking bookshelf showed no sign of moving out of the way.
Like this, another week slowly flew by with Scaly none the wiser that the bookshelf she had toppled over to block the passage leading up to the top floor of the ancient stone watchtower as a last-minute safety measure had ended up saving her life countless times during this week...
Rumble~ Bang!
And just like always, the monster below attempted to break through the bookshelf once again before ultimately giving up and retreating somewhere below after the bookshelf once again managed to hold strong in the face of the constant attacks.
The main difference this time around was that several small cracks could already be seen spreading around the edge of the bookshelf. Making it clear that it was already about to reach its limit after a week of being consistently burned and attacked. Strong as the bookshelf was, it ultimately wasn’t as indestructible as it had seemed at first and ultimately still ended up suffering from damage over time, something that the monster below the top floor was clearly taking advantage of to slowly chip away at the bookshelf.
Rustle~
However, today, Scaly, who had been motionless on top of the old bed for the past two weeks, finally seemed to stir for a few seconds before her eyes shot open. Shining brightly filled with energy as she wasted no time in observing her surroundings with interest. Not because her surroundings had changed compared to when she had first closed her eyes and decided to initiate her fifth evolution, but instead because the insatiable hunger she felt following her evolution wasn’t as bad as she had expected.
Although it was still present, it was clear to her that she could now suppress it to some extent. Giving her a chance to properly examine her surroundings and control herself.
For one, the main thing she noticed was that everything that should have been familiar now looked far smaller than it had before she had closed her eyes and initiated her fifth evolution, a clear indication that she had grown larger than before.
Now that she was focusing on the size of her surroundings, she also realized that the bed she had been sleeping on top of had already collapsed under her and was far from large enough to hold her entire body.
If she had to estimate, her current length from tail tip to her head was around two meters, while her total wingspan had dramatically increased from the past where she had a rather immature pair of wings that could barely be called wings, she now had a pair of translucent wings that blended in with her scales. Making them hard to spot at first glance, though after unfurling them, she was surprised to discover that her wingspan was a little over four meters.
A length of around two meters and a wingspan over four meters... This was by no means small and could already be considered a large monster in the eyes of humans, but... In the context of her being an adult dragon, her current size could indeed be considered small. Although... That was by dragon standards. Not human standards...
Rustle~
Shaking her head as she thought about this, Scaly was just about to pull up her status to see how much her strength had improved after her fifth evolution, while at the same time also seeing what kind of new abilities she might have gained after becoming a Dreamscale Dragon, when a sudden sound from below caught her attention. Taking her completely by surprise, as there shouldn’t be any other monsters present in the ancient stone watchtower as far as she knew.
After all, passing over those poisonous plants would be far from simple even if a monster could fly, as there was a clear limit to how high one could fly in some locations and going to high up would result in colliding with an invisible barrier created by the mist that would then cause the monster in question to plummet into the poisonous plants where the chance of survival was essentially zero.
For another monster to have reached the ancient stone watchtower meant one of two things, the mist had disappeared during her evolution. Allowing other flying monsters to reach it with ease or a monster capable of ignoring the purple worm grass had appeared and made its way to the ancient stone watchtower. Meaning that it was either terrifyingly powerful or had a terrifyingly powerful poison resistance.
As for a monster doing the same as she had done to reach the ancient stone watchtower by remaining close to the purple worm grass? She doubted any of the monsters around were anywhere near smart enough to do something like that. Especially given that there wasn’t really any reason for them to risk their life to reach the ancient stone watchtower.
Only a monster powerful enough or with high enough poison resistance to reach the ancient stone watchtower effortlessly would bother to make its way there.
Now the question on Scaly’s mind was what kind of monster was inside the ancient stone watchtower with her...
Hmph! No matter what it is, now that I have successfully made it through my fifth evolution, I doubt there is any monster on the fifth floor of the dungeon strong enough to contend with me!
Narrowing both her eyes as she thought this to herself while looking down towards the bookshelf, she had used to block the passage up to the top floor filled with confidence, Scaly slowly made her way off the bed far too small to fit her current rather large body. Listening intently as the monster she heard moving around below started to make its way up towards her.
Although she hadn’t expected to start off with a potentially deadly battle the second she woke up and finished her fifth evolution, she felt more than happy to entertain the monster bold enough to try and sneak up on her while she was in a defenseless state. At the same time, it was also a perfect opportunity for her to test out her current strength and see just how much stronger she had become after her fifth evolution into a Dreamscale Dragon.
Even if she did feel far stronger now, only faced with a powerful opponent would she be able to truly understand how much stronger she had become compared to before... And so, Scaly eagerly moved back to make space for the challenger approaching from below to blow aside the bookshelf she had casually tipped over to block the passage up to the top floor...
Fwoosh-!
And not more than a few seconds after she had taken a few steps back to make space for the challenger, a burning fire ignited below the bookshelf blocking the path down as countless small cracks began to rapidly spread across the surface of the large bookshelf-
BANG!
Before the entire bookshelf blew up into countless small burning pieces, as the culprit behind the destruction of the bookshelf casually walked through the burning debris and ascended the final few steps up to the top floor where she was standing. Watching the entire scene playing out with a sense of awe and amazement, as the entrance alone was more than enough for her to feel a sense of growing excitement towards the upcoming battle.
Wasting no time as she inspected the large monster equal to her in size that made its way up to the top floor...
[Fire Poison Eating Lizard, lvl 73]
[Description: A unique lizard that evolved through consuming countless poisons without perishing in the process. Developing a unique affinity for fire magic in the process by consuming poisons that burn the consumer from the inside. Considered an A Rank Monster by the Adventurers Guild and is well known to be difficult to deal with because of its poison immunity and poisonous flames.]
Just reading the brief description provided after inspecting her opponent made it clear that although this monster should have managed to reach the stone watchtower because of its poison resistance, it was far from weak and could be considered among the strongest monsters she had encountered so far inside the dungeon.
An opponent that she in the past wouldn’t have had a hard time fighting or in other words, a perfect opponent for her to test out her current strength after going through her fifth evolution.