BANG-!
Feeling the mountain below her shaking violently as the edge of the peak collided with the floating island above, Scaly watched in awe as the floating island with the mountain continued to push forward even after colliding with the floating island above. If anything, it had started to forcibly push on the floating island above as it dragged along the bottom of the floating island. The force and direction at which the mountain peak had collided with the floating island above even causing the floating island to start tilting as if it was about to roll over and turn into an upside-down island, something she hadn’t seen yet, but had a feeling existed somewhere inside the dreamscape–or more specifically, along the path the floating island whose mountain she was sitting on top of had travelled.
After all, it was clear that the speed and size of the mountain had been far greater than it currently was in the past, something that would undoubtedly have resulted in a far greater impact on whatever it had collided with. Not like now, where the floating island at most began tilting a bit as it was dragged along by the floating island with the mountain on top of it.
Still... This was for the best in Scaly’s opinion, as she understood very well that it might have been impossible for her to jump to another floating island if the impact was any greater, as the floating island might have been forcibly pushed aside instead of the current situation where the two floating islands remained connected through the mountain.
Even then, she couldn’t waste too much time admiring the violent collision between the mountain and the floating island. Understanding that the connection between the two wouldn’t last forever, as even now, the mountain was slowly dragging down along the underside of the floating mountain above and would soon enough be pushed far enough down that the floating mountain above wouldn’t be able to hold it in place any longer. Allowing it to continue its journey towards the underside of the massive floating continent in the distance, albeit a bit slower than before.
And outside of just this, she was also worried that the commotion would attract the attention of any nearby dream cloud whales.
Whoosh~
Because of this, after admiring the chaotic collision for another few seconds, she flapped both of her wings before ascending towards the floating island that had collided with the mountain. Having found out over the past few hours through testing that the space a few meters around a floating island remained unaffected by the sky of the dreamscape. Meaning she would be able to freely fly to another floating island if it was within a short distance of the floating island she was on top of–or in this case, collided with said floating island.
In the end, though she had been prepared to potentially have to fly a few meters through the sky of the dreamscape to reach the floating island above, she found herself without encountering such problems and managed to successfully scale the slightly tilting floating island above without any problems. Leaving the floating island with the mountain on top of it just in time, as it slipped past the lowest point of the floating island, she now found herself on and began moving into the distance on its own. Heading for the unknown without her on top of it any longer.
Sad as this was, Scaly understood that she didn’t have the time to worry about any of this, as she clearly felt familiar movement in the distance. Indicating that the clash between the two floating islands had indeed ended up attracting the attention of at least one dream cloud whale. Potentially more, as she sensed several other points of disturbance in the distance.
Clearly, compared to the disturbance she had created when flying from her original floating island to the one with the mountain on top of it, the disturbance that had been created this time around was far greater... And though a part of her wanted to hide the same way she had done the first time around, she understood that with multiple dream cloud whales showing up, they would undoubtedly search through the two floating islands involved in the disturbance this time around.
Good as she had become at hiding after the long time, she had spent doing just that in the Howling Caverns Dungeon, she understood that it had become a rather difficult task to hide herself ever since she had gone through her fifth evolution and become a dreamscale dragon. Her size alone making many of her previous hiding locations impossible to access.
In the end, the only solution to her current situation was to escape the dreamscape before the dream cloud whales appeared and hunted her down.
However, doing that came with its own risks, as she was currently on a brand-new floating island and had absolutely no idea where she would end up after escaping from the dreamscape back to the material plane. For all she knew, she might end up in a far worse situation.
A worse situation than this... I really can’t think of it, unless I end up in the middle of a group of S Rank Adventurers...
Silently thinking this to her as she looked at the colorful clouds that had begun swirling ominously in several different locations, Scaly quickly came to decision. Climbing up to the highest spot on the small floating island that had nothing, but a few lonely trees and small grass covered hills before using the gate of dreams to peer into the material plane. Just to ensure she wouldn’t land somewhere deadly the second she left the dreamscape.
In the end, she looked for just a split second to conserve her mana for a potential deadly battle once she left the dreamscape, but she still managed to fully take in what was on the other side.
Although... With her current proficiency in dream magic, she didn’t see anything beyond a somewhat rocky terrain and the corner of what should be a tree.
Still, compared to a group of S Rank Adventurers that part of her had somewhat been expecting to see upon gazing into the material plane, this kind of normal environment that looked like the base of a mountain facing what might be a forest, was by far the best potential outcome.
Not just because it indicated a safe landing spot for her when she left the dreamscape, but also because it indicated that she had reached the surface and wasn’t underground any longer.
But... If she wasn’t underground, the dream cloud whales shouldn’t be hunting like they were currently. So, though everything looked like it would be a peaceful mountain base next to a forest on the surface instead of being somewhere underground, she kept herself ready just in case it turned out to be different from what she was expecting...
Having already made up her mind and seeing that the other side looked safe, Scaly didn’t waste any time and began the process of using the gate of dreams to leave the dreamscape, something that would take a few seconds to fully activate.
Ruumble~
But just as she began the process of leaving the dreamscape, a loud rumbling echoed out from one of the locations in the distance where the colorful clouds had started swirling violently-
[Dream Cloud Whale, lvl 17]
And she soon enough saw a familiar looking dream cloud whale emerging from the colorful clouds. Staring directly at her before rushing over filled with what could be described as a mix of killing intent and hunger. Making it all too obvious to her that this acquaintance of hers that she had only met once before intended to swallow her just as it had swallowed the spiritual projection of the powerful human from earlier-
RUUUUMBLE-!
But this wasn’t the end, as the colorful clouds from several other locations split apart-
[Dream Cloud Whale, lvl 12]
[Dream Cloud Whale, lvl 22]
[Dream Cloud Whale, lvl 16]
[Dream Cloud Whale, lvl 9]
[Dream Cloud Whale...]
And before she even had time to take in the one dream cloud whale, she was familiar with, over a dozen emerged and began rushing towards her with a similar look as the first.
The sight alone left even the normally confident Scaly shivering in fear, as she understood full well that she stood no chance in the face of over a dozen of these massive dream cloud whales native to the dreamscape.
Even if she ended up having to face off against a group of S Rank Adventurers on the other side, it would still be far better than remaining inside the dreamscape that had seemingly turned into the domain of the dream cloud whales.
Luckily, she had already activated the gate of dreams to leave the dreamscape and though intimidating, the dream cloud whales shouldn’t be able to reach her before it activated and took her out of the dreamscape...