Continuing her journey deeper into the Thousand Spire Mountain Range, Scaly didn’t forget to keep an eye on the group of adventurers who were slowly chasing after her from behind. Luckily, though those adventurers seemed rather persistent when it came to chasing after her, it was obvious that they were having a hard time keeping up with her.
But then again, it was understandable that they were having a far harder time than her travelling through the mountain range, as they couldn’t fly like her and had to fight monsters and make their way through the inhospitable terrain that she just flew over with ease.
Not just that, but given the large size of their group, they also ended up attracting far more attention than they would if they had been a small group of adventurers. All this meant that it ultimately took them far longer to travel through the mountain range compared to her. Allowing her to keep a significant distance between herself and the group of adventurers even if she ended up in a battle with a powerful monster.
Still, though she was able to keep her distance from the adventurers for now, she couldn’t help worrying about the powerful adventurer who had appeared at the giant ant nest and chased her all the way to the dreamscape.
Even though she had seen the other party being swallowed by a dream cloud whale inside the dreamscape, she also knew that the spiritual projection shouldn’t have been the true body of that powerful figure, but instead some magical technique he had used to enter the dreamscape. The reason why that powerful adventurer had appeared most likely had to do with him facing some kind of powerful backlash after his spiritual projection was swallowed inside the dreamscape.
For this reason, she was still planning on returning to the dreamscape again the second she recovered her mana and the dream cloud whales had been given enough time to leave.
Beneficial as it might be for her to hunt down monsters in the depths of the mountain range, the danger involved wasn’t something she was willing to face knowing that it could be avoided by instead exploring the dreamscape and searching for the native monsters of the dreamscape that would also be able to help her reach level 40 and give her a safe place to undergo her next evolution.
Speaking of how beneficial it was for her to hunt in the depths of the Thousand Spire Mountain Range; she soon enough spotted another monster similar in strength to the mountain dwelling ogre in one of the valleys below.
[Mountain Forest Stalker, lvl 71]
The main difference between the mountain dwelling ogre being that the monster in the valley was nowhere near as easy for her to spot. Hiding within the trees and foliage of the valley. Making it far harder for her to attack it from above.
Even worse, as she found a good attack angle, the mountain forest stalker noticed her and dived into the foliage. Disappearing before she could attack. Showing no sign of emerging from hiding any time soon, as it was clear that it had already recognized her as an opponent that it couldn’t beat. Different from the mountain dwelling ogre who had absolutely no awareness of its surroundings and allowed her to launch an attack before it had time to even realize that it was being attacked.
The reason for this lack of attention from the mountain dwelling ogre not only had to do with it being dumber than the mountain forest stalker, but also had to do with the fact that the mountain forest stalker lived far deeper inside the Thousand Spire Mountain Range compared to the mountain dwelling ogre and found itself encountering far stronger monsters on a daily basis and had to know when to run away if it wanted to stay alive.
In other words, there should be monsters capable of making the mountain forest stalker fearful living somewhere nearby.
And for Scaly, a monster capable of making a monster similar in strength to the mountain dwelling ogre fearful would be able to provide her with far more experience compared to the mountain forest stalker.
So... Although she felt a bit disappointed watching the mountain forest stalker disappearing amidst the foliage of the forest covered valley below, she didn’t let it get to her and instead began searching for the monster that was behind this fast reaction speed and fearful nature. Soon enough, finding the culprit lazing around on a nearby mountain top in a manner not much different from the mountain dwelling ogre. Only stronger and surrounded by several smaller weaker versions of itself who seemed to be following the larger stronger monster.
[Mountain Goat Lord, lvl 87]
[Mountain Goat, lvl 32]
[Mountain Goat, lvl 27]
[Mountain Goat, lvl 48]
[Mountain Goat...]
Just looking at the countless mountain goats that surrounded the mountain goat lord was enough to fill her with excitement imagining just how much her strength would increase if she managed to kill all of them.
At the very least, she felt that her level would increase by 1. Bringing her only a single level away from reaching level 40 where she would be able to undergo her next evolution.
The only problem she found herself facing when it came to taking down the mountain goat lord was the simple fact that this monster was clearly one that focused on defense and would be difficult for her to take down in the short term. Especially so if the weaker subordinates of the mountain goat lord decided to throw themselves at her in an attempt to help their lord in his battle against her.
Magic could make the battle significantly easier, but she discovered to her horror after reading through the description of the mountain goat lord, that it had an inbuilt resistance against water magic. Making it unlikely that her water blade would be able to do anywhere near the same level of damage that it had done to the mountain dwelling ogre not too long ago.
If she used her dragon breath, it would be different as there was no way for this mountain goat lord would ever be able to resist it, but using her dragon breath attack with her current mana would essentially reduce what little mana she had recovered to zero. Making any recovery she had when it came to her mana useless.
But... A chance for her to increase her strength by an entire level was hard to come by and even if her mana ended up being reduced close to zero, she felt that it would be worth the risk. After all, she didn’t need magic to be able to fly any longer and the only real threat she felt she would be facing was the powerful adventurer recovering enough to start chasing after her as well... And from the fact that he hadn’t appeared yet, she guessed that it wouldn’t be happening any time soon.
Even if her mana ended up reaching zero, she felt confident that she would be able to keep herself safe long enough for her mana to recover enough for her to use the gate of dreams.
After all, though the gate of dreams could be considered a powerful spell capable of directly travelling between the material plane and the dreamscape, the mana required to use the mystical spell wasn’t any more than what was needed for a single water blade.
How this worked, she had no idea, but given that it was beneficial to her, she decided not to question it. All she did was feel thankful that she would be able to use her dragon breath attack on the mountain goat lord.
Weakened as it might be with her still rather low mana, it would be more than enough to kill the mountain goat lord-
Rumble~
And so, with the last bit of hesitation she felt gone, Scaly wasted no time in charging up her dragon breath attack above the mountain goat lord. Knowing that even if the mountain goat lord noticed her, there was nowhere for it to hide on top the mountain peak. All it could do was prepare itself for the attack.
Rustle~
And that was exactly what it did, as it felt the powerful gathering of mana in the air above. Creating a powerful barrier out of rocks between itself and Scaly.
However, powerful as this barrier of rocks might have been under normal circumstances, in the face of the dragon breath attack, it stood no chance-
BOOOM-!
A fact that was soon proven as the dragon breath descended upon the mountain goat lord. Shattering the pitiful barrier of rocks it had managed to conjure up in front of itself at the last second before slamming directly into its massive body. Forcing it backwards before knocking it off the mountain top and down the mountain.
[Gained 878 Exp]
[Gained 1242 Exp]
[Gained 664 Exp]
[Gained...]
Crashing into several weaker mountain goats along the way...