Escaping from the nightmare hawks while also avoiding drawing attention to herself from a powerful adventurer in the process, Scaly felt a sense of relief washing over her as she slumped down beside a small tree that wouldn't attack her.
Originally having been full of confidence after having recovered. Ready to take on any dreamscape monster that came her way, Scaly had once again found herself being taught the simple yet valuable lesson that the dreamscape remained deadly as ever.
Even worse, after the encounter with those nightmare hawks, she realized that it might not be possible for her to fly like she had grown used to while the floating continent was swallowed by the nightmare cloud. Meaning that her speed of traversing the dreamscape would inevitably slow down by a lot, something that also meant her hunting speed would be affected.
Faced with that kind of situation, Scaly of course found herself unwilling and intended to test the situation to see if it might still be possible for her to fly. Not believing that the nightmare hawks were so numerous that they covered every inch of the sky above the floating continent…
Whoosh~
Squaaaawk-!
However, fate was not kind to her, as almost the second she took back into the air, she had to dive back down again, as a nightmare hawk had noticed her and began approaching her location.
Luckily, she had moved fast enough and hidden away before the nightmare hawk could reach her. Allowing her to avoid another confrontation where her only real path out would be to pay another visit to the adventurers' dreamscape outpost, something she didn't want to do if it could be avoided given that the adventurers would undoubtedly be more on edge following the last few nightmare hawks she had dumped on them.
Not to mention, that terrifying adventurer who had ripped apart the dozen or so nightmare hawks that had been chasing her might very well figure out something was wrong and find her.
Because of this, her original hunting plans had to be put aside as she was forced to slowly move through the unique terrain of the floating continent in search of dreamscape monsters to hunt down…
[Gained 1345 Exp]
[Gained 1012 Exp]
[Gained 5246 Exp]
[Gained 872 Exp]
[*Ding* Reached level 11]
And although she did manage to run into several dreamscape monsters that helped her reach level 11, the progress was slow to the point where she wondered if it was suitable for her to remain within the dreamscape.
In the end, what caused her to give up on continuing hunting down dreamscape monsters was the sudden emergence of even more nightmare hawks, as whenever she looked up now, all she saw was a dense cloud of black made up of hundreds if not thousands of those damnable nightmare hawks.
The sheer scale of the nightmare hawks gathered above made it so that she didn't dare continue hunting down other dreamscape monsters, as she had seen firsthand that even a small commotion could draw the attention of the flock above, causing hundreds to descend and peck whatever caught their attention to death.
She had wanted to just wait for the cloud of nightmare hawks to disperse on their own, but as minutes turned into hours with her essentially nailed to the ground hidden below a few tall trees, she realized that the nightmare hawks had no intention of leaving any time soon.
So, with no other choice, she began looking to leave the dreamscape and return to the martial plane where she should at least be able to find monster to hunt down.
Of course, before using the gat of dreams to leave the dreamscape and return to the martial plane, she decided to use the gate of dreams to peer into the martial plane from the dreamscape.
Although the mana cost was still as tremendous as ever, she now had far more mana than before and the level of her dream magic had also increased significantly compared to the past. Allowing her to see an area three meters around herself within the martial plane.
Even though the area she could see was still small, it was better than nothing, as it did help her get some idea about where she would end up if she decided to leave for the martial plane at her current location.
But what she saw on the other side wasn't a powerful adventurer or demon beast. Instead, it was…
A volcano? Will I end up in volcano if I return to the martial plane from this place…?
Seeing the bobbling magma all around her on the other side, Scaly could not help feeling a shiver run down her spine, as she realized for the first time how deadly it would be for her to leave the dreamscape before checking the location she would end up ahead of time.
After all, outside of the location on the other side being a volcano, she could also see that she would end up half submerged in the magma if she used the gate of dreams to leave the dreamscape. Essentially leaving her no chance to escape in time before being consumed by the bobbling magma.
Strong as she was, she was under no illusion that she was strong enough to endure being dropped in a volcano. Especially considering that her main strength was water magic and her fire resistance or fire magic for that matter was nonexistent.
The problem she now found herself facing was the fact that she had to somehow leave her current location and find somewhere different to slip back into the martial plane safely.
Simple as this seemed on the surface, with the nightmare hawks numbering in the thousands above her, even a small movement could spell the end for her.
But dangerous as it was, she had to take this risk if she wanted to continue growing stronger-
Rustle~
Wasting no time as her now rather large body began awkwardly slithering along in a crude imitation of a snake. Doing her best to keep her large body hidden beneath the canopy of the tall trees.
Slowly, she found herself moving forward, crossing rivers and mountains as she journeyed forward for over an hour straight. Only to look back and realize she had barely travelled a hundred meters in this short time.
Even if she didn't end up inside the volcano and was swallowed by magma, she had a feeling that she would end up becoming one with the volcano itself if she left the dreamscape now.
Although this journey had been safe and she hadn't encountered any danger as the trees above help shield her from the nightmare hawks, the slow speed left her squirming somewhat uncomfortably. Her impatient mind finding it unbearable to just slowly slither forward like a very odd, shaped snake.
Rustle~
But just as she was about to throw cation to the wind and charge forward, a sound from the bushes next to her forced her to freeze before her eyes focused on the small creature that emerged a second later.
[Dwarf, Flame Bringer, lvl 96]
From a simple glance, it was clear that this was relatively powerful adventurer that had found himself in the same situation as her, the main difference being that his body seemed close to half the size of most of the adventurer she had encountered so far. Strength wise, he wasn't lacking in the slightest from what she could tell.
"Huh?"
And as she was examining the small figure, the small figure- or rather dwarf adventurer, was examining her as well. Only he showed a far more shocked expression compared to her, as Scaly was after all far stronger than he was, something that could be felt immediately.
""…""
Still, given that even a small movement might end up attracting the unwanted attention of the nightmare hawk flock swarming above them, neither decided to attack the other as they instead entered a silent staring contest. Not knowing what to do.
"Ehm! Let's not fight for now and get out of this situation peacefully…" Not knowing whether she would understand what he said, the dwarf adventurer decided to break the silence. Suggesting a peace treaty between the two, while they worked to get out of their current deadly situation.
Peace…? Hm… I guess it's fine for now. After all, attacking him will only bring more trouble…
Hearing the suggestion from the dwarf adventurer, Scaly paused for a few seconds to think about it before nodding her head in approval. Knowing that it wouldn't be possible for her to kill the small adventurer without bringing unwanted trouble from the nightmare hawks above.
It understands me! Great!
Unaware of Scaly's internal thoughts and only seeing her nod her head in approval, the dwarf adventurer felt like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, as he hadn't originally thought Scaly was an intelligent dreamscape monster. Now that he had found her to be an intelligent one capable of understanding him, he felt far more at ease, as they could at least cooperate to some extent to get out of their current situation.