"Huh? What... What just happened? Where am I?" At the same time Scaly set off flying towards the top of the mountain in an attempt to escape from the city she had found herself trapped inside of, the dwarf who had fallen off her back as she crashed into the temple pillar, Verdell, slowly recovered from the chaotic situation. Sitting up with a confused look on his face. Failing to understand what in the world had just happened.
"Hey! Are you okay?" And it was during this moment of confusion that a figure stepped forward and asked him in a somewhat worried tone while at the same time using what he recognized as a healing spell. One of rather high quality, as he almost instantly felt the injuries he had suffered recovering. Leaving only his mana pool dry, as that was not something healing magic could recover.
"Yes... I’m fine, just a bit confused." Still, he didn’t forget to answer the kind individual who had helped him out before getting up on his feet to take in his surroundings...
"Wait! This is the main temple where the cardinal of Temple Guard City was laid to rest!? How did I get here!?"
Not taking more than a few seconds to realize where he had ended up, but the realization of where he was had only confused him even further, as he understood full well that he should have been inside the dreamscape.
Travelling between the material plane and the dreamscape was far from simple and outside of the dream gate that he and most others used, the only ones capable of travelling between the dreamscape and the material plane on their own were the rare and difficult to find mages specializing in dream magic or unique lifeforms of the dreamscape that also gained the ability to travel between the dreamscape and the material plane.
But... Both were incredibly difficult to find and even with him having spent years within the dreamscape, he hadn’t ever encountered someone capable of traversing between the dreamscape and the material plane.
For him to experience travelling between the material plane and the dreamscape for the first time without needing a dream gate while riding on top a dragon was not what he had expected.
Because of this, he couldn’t exactly remember much of what had happened outside of him being swallowed up by colorful clouds just as a nightmare hawk had been about to grab him. Following which he and the dreamscape dragon had crashed into the marble pillar.
"Verdell! You have to tell us what in the world just happened!"
"Yeah! How did you suddenly learn how to ride a dragon?"
"No, more importantly than that, how did you manage to get inside the temple and past the barrier with that dragon?"
However, as he was lost in his own thoughts thinking about what he had just gone through the voices of both adventurers who had been drawn to the commotion and members of the Holy Light Church brought him back from his train of thought as he found himself faced with a kind looking senior priest.
"Indeed, I would love to know how this happened, as the damage to the pillar isn’t exactly cheap to fix..." But the words that came out of the older priest’s mouth was more than enough to cause a shiver to run down Verdell’s spine as he slowly glanced up towards the marble pillar he and the dreamscape dragon had crashed into.
Gulp...
Just the damage alone made him swallow uncomfortably, as he had a feeling that whatever money he ended up earning from informing the guild about this unique dreamscape dragon would end up going towards repairing this marble pillar.
Not just because marble was expensive on its own, but more so because of the significance of this marble pillar’s location and the effort it would take to either repair or replace it.
That dragon... Did it ditch me because it didn’t want to pay the repair costs!?
The terrifying cost he would have to bear on his own even making him think that the dreamscape dragon might have ditched him because it didn’t want to pay the repair fee.
Of course, this was only a thought that held up for a few seconds, as he did understand deep down that Scaly likely didn’t know anything about a potential repair fee and had instead left because of the large number of people around.
Speaking of which, Verdell did wonder how she was going to run away. After all, the entire city was guarded by a barrier that specifically prevented anyone from entering outside of a few designated entry points.
The answer to which he soon got from an adventurer who had come running down the mountain yelling that a dragon had rushed inside the dungeon.
The entire situation making him a bit curious about entering the dungeon himself to see if he could find this new friend of his... Although... Before any of that, he had to first face off against the older priest who was glaring towards him with an increasingly hostile expression. The old man clearly not wanting to let him escape without paying for the damage he had ended up doing to the marble pillar.
After all, even if the one that had done the damage wasn’t him, but a certain dragon who had crashed into it. In the eyes of the old priest, he had been riding the dragon, and it could therefor be considered his mount, thus he had to pay for any damage it caused.
Even if he wanted to escape, it wasn’t possible, as his identity had already spread and the older priest himself was not someone he could mess with even as a top A Rank Adventurer.
...
Unaware of the trouble she had unintentionally caused for Verdell, Scaly escaped through the portal leading inside an unknown dungeon on top of the mountain that was home to the massive city supporting the dreamscape outpost filled with adventurers. Soon enough, feeling her entire body tense up as she prepared for the inevitable struggle she would have to face upon reaching the other side.
Understanding that there would undoubtedly be a massive city on the other side as well. Only difference from the city she had ended up facing in the past blocking the path out of the Howling Caverns Dungeon being that there wasn’t a seemingly endless tide of monsters helping her break the barrier surrounding said city and distracting the large number of adventurers that had been present.
Huh? What is this...?
But what she saw upon getting to the other side wasn’t some kind of massive city like she had originally been expecting. Instead, it was a seemingly endless desert with no end in sight.
Not only wasn’t there any city around, but she didn’t see any adventurers around her even though she had clearly seen some stepping through the portal leading inside the dungeon a few seconds before she herself had rushed inside.
Even if those adventurers were fast beyond belief, she should at least have been able to spot them after she entered. Especially because she doubted those adventurers were that fast considering their general level was so low that she wouldn’t even bother killing them.
More than just that, as she was in a state of confusion observing her surroundings, she soon enough also realized that the portal that should take her out of the dungeon again wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
From this alone, Scaly realized that the dungeon she had entered this time around was different from the Howling Caverns Dungeon that she had grown up inside.
How different, she didn’t know, but at least she could confirm that entering the dungeon didn’t seem to take her to one fixed location where another dungeon portal leading back out of the dungeon was located. Instead, it seemed to have randomly thrown her somewhere inside a massive desert that should be the first floor of this new dungeon whose name she hadn’t yet managed to obtain.
Troublesome as this situation might be in case, she wanted to leave the dungeon again in the future through the portal she had entered through earlier, she felt overjoyed knowing that she didn’t have to fight her way through a potentially massive city filled with countless powerful adventurers.
Strong as she might be and with her having allowed the dwarf, Verdell, to take care of most of the nightmare hawks. Allowing her to preserve her mana, she understood that she was still limited as one dragon.
Not to mention, she would likely have to break through some kind of powerful barrier if she wanted to escape from the adventurer city inside the dungeon, as hiding inside the city like she had done in the past wouldn’t exactly be possible at her current size.
Well... She could try, but she doubted it would work, as there weren’t exactly many places for a dragon her size to hide away inside a city.