Deciding to remain hidden until she recovered a bit more of her strength or more specifically, mana, Scaly began to slowly observe the underground forest trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of some of the monsters or other creatures that lived inside the forest. Hoping that they wouldn’t be too weak. Loving the idea that she could potentially use the opportunity to hunt down the inhabitants of the underground forest and bring her own level up to 40. Ready for her to undergo her next evolution.
The problem with this was of course the simple fact that the experience required, for even a single level, had reached a terrifying level. Essentially, only by hunting down stronger monsters did she stand any chance of increasing her level in the short term, thus, she silently wished that the monsters of this underground forest weren’t too weak.
[Glorious Poison Bug, lvl 3]
[Description: A unique evolution of a normal poison bug, dies for glory–or that is at least what countless researchers have concluded after thoroughly observing this unique poison bug for years, though to this day, no researcher has managed to uncover what kind of glory these unique bugs seek, as they tend to just randomly throw themselves at any one showing hostility towards them. Dying in what can only be considered a colorful poisonous explosion that forms a lingering poisonous cloud.
The poison of the glorious poison bug is deadly to the point where even S Rank Adventurers might perish if exposed. Harmless unless provoked, useful in certain alchemical potions. Tend to be ignored, as it is close to impossible to catch them alive and the experience they provide are no different from a level 1 oversized rat.]
Frowning visibly as she read through the description of the first monster she saw wandering around outside her small hiding place, Scaly couldn’t help turning towards another monster who was far larger and more intimidating. Standing more than two meters tall as it made its way through the forest with no one stepping forward to challenge it.
[Dead Flower Boar, lvl 7]
[Description: The dead flower boar is a relatively harmless monster known to inhabit areas where large numbers of deaths occurred, like battlefields or abandoned cemeteries. Easy to recognize from the single unique deathly white flower growing on top of its head.
Harmless unless provoked, with only the death flower growing on its head being considered somewhat valuable to alchemists, as the flesh of a dead flower boar is poisonous and tastes awful according to the few daring enough to try it.]
That... Another poisonous monster that isn’t anywhere strong enough to provide me with much help in reaching level 39, much less get anywhere close to level 40...
Silently complaining to herself about how weak this monster was and how little it would be able to help her in increasing her strength, Scaly soon enough began examining the rest of the monsters that appeared throughout the underground forest. Hoping to find at least one monster that would provide her with at least a little bit of experience...
[Salamander Corpse Eater, lvl 2]
[Death Qi Owl, lvl 5]
[Corpse Muncher, lvl 14]
But as she continued to observe the rather unique monsters that lived within the underground forest, she was disappointed to discover that all of them were incredibly weak and far from strong enough to even increase her strength by a little bit, let alone help her get anywhere close to level 40.
The only thing she managed to pick up that was rather increasing about all these monsters was the fact that all of them seemed to be closely aligned with death and tended to gather where a large number of deaths occurred. Making her think that the underground forest might have been filled with far stronger monsters in the past, but someone not much different from herself might have passed through the place not long ago and taken care of all the monsters. Only leaving behind this cleanup crew to handle the aftermath.
Rustle~
Still, knowing that there weren’t any dangerous monsters around to threaten her made her fully confident in emerging from her temporary hiding spot. Planning to look around the underground forest to see if she could find any signs of a potential battle having taken place within the underground forest in the past... And if she could potentially track the culprit who had killed all the monsters that once inhabited this underground forest.
Although she wanted to find her way back to the dreamscape and reach the floating continent she had glimpsed in the distance, it was impossible for her to return for the next few hours with the dream cloud whales still around keeping an eye out for her.
So, before she returned to the dreamscape and made her way to the floating continent, she intended to see if she could potentially increase her own strength further.
Even if her mana was still on the low side, outside the dreamscape, she didn’t hold anywhere near the same level of fear towards attracting potential enemies stronger than herself, as she could always make use of her ability to fly to escape or harass her enemy like she had done with the giant ants.
For this reason, after emerging from her hiding spot, Scaly went about exploring the underground forest. Finding that there were indeed several traces of battle all over the place, some sections of the underground forest that she hadn’t been able to see before had even been directly destroyed, as several trees had seemingly been ripped out of the ground by some kind of terrifying power.
But maybe most important of all, during her exploration of the underground forest, she found one of the original inhabitants of the underground forest dead on the ground already half consumed by a corpse muncher, a rather unique looking monster that looked like a giant mouth with legs.
[Primal Shadow Leopard, lvl 57 (Dead)]
[Description: A deadly predator that inhabits the underground forests of the world. Known as one of deadliest A Rank Monsters due to its terrifying ability to conceal itself and ambush prey without making a sound.]
Reading the description of this already half consumed monster, Scaly felt that this was far more fitting of a monster for her to hunt down. Problem was, it was already dead... And the rest of these primal shadow leopards had likely also met a similar fate.
Still, it was proof to her that something had indeed swept through this place before her arrival. Killing off all the monsters that had once inhabited this underground forest. Allowing this weaker cleanup crew to sweep in and clear up the corpse without facing any attacks... Not that any monster would dare attack these unique monsters in the first place, as almost all of them were poisonous to the point where even S Rank Adventurers would fear attacking them.
The problem she now faced was that there was no trace of where this monster or adventurer had gone. Leaving her with only one option for where it might have gone. Up.
However, though she felt confident in being able to keep herself alive, she also understood that there was a very real chance that an ambush awaited her once she flew up and attempted to leave the underground cave that looked like the inside of a massive mountain far larger than any mountain she had encountered so far.
Not because she believed that some monster was deliberately waiting at the top for someone like herself to fly through the entrance to this unique underground cave, but instead because she understood from experience that any tall enough mountain tended to have a powerful monster claiming the mountain peak for itself.
A mountain like the one she suspected that she currently found herself inside of would undoubtedly have a powerful monster claiming its peak for itself.
In other words, she would likely end up having to face off against this powerful monster once she left. Not something she wanted to do with her current rather low mana.
But... Waiting around inside the forest filled with poisonous monsters that wouldn’t be able to provide her with any meaningful experience wasn’t exactly an option either, as dong that would be wasting time she could have used to hunt down stronger monsters that would be able to help increase her strength or maybe more importantly–fill up her stomach.
After all, she hadn’t eaten anything for quite a long time now. Having deliberately avoided consuming any of the giant ants. Understanding just how awful they tasted.
Although part of her had wanted to try the giant ant queen, she hadn’t managed to get the opportunity to taste it during the deadly struggle. Having ultimately been forced into the dreamscape where there wasn’t a single monster around for her to try eating.
Not even a single fruit to satiate her growing hunger during the long hours she had ended up spending inside the dreamscape hiding herself from the powerful human...