Knowing that the adventurers that had gathered together to hunt her on the first floor were now starting to gather up in an attempt to encircle her along with the fact that the monsters on the second floor of the dungeon weren’t anywhere near satisfactory when it came to the experience they provided, Scaly decided to put aside her desire to continue hunting down monsters and began an earnest search for a path leading to the third floor of the dungeon.
Originally, this would have meant she had to get out of the sand ocean, but because she had overheard a conversation between a group of adventurers forced to linger around the surface of the sand ocean because their sand boat had been stolen by her, who happened to be happily eating a delicious sandwhirl fish on top of it, she ended up not following her original plan of searching for the passage to the third floor of the dungeon.
As for the conversation in question, it went kind of like this...
"Nooo! Not our boat... How much will it cost to repair when we get back!? Our deposit, its gone!"
"Not just our deposit, we will likely have to pay a fair bit out of pocket as well. Not to mention, the sand vision powder... All gone..."
"Just like the rumors... a dragon addicted to sand vision powder has emerged! Even though a pinch is more than enough, it happily applies an entire month’s worth at once! Aaaah! So wasteful!"
Okay... Maybe not that exact conversation, but at some point, she swore that she heard an adventurer mention something about the path leading to the third floor of the dungeon being located somewhere within the sand ocean. Impossible to reach outside of the sand ocean.
With those words that she now seemed to have a hard time recalling which adventurer it had originally come from, she began seriously searching for a path leading to the third floor of the dungeon.
...
"The dragon... What is it doing?" At the same time Scaly began searching for the path to the third floor of the dungeon in earnest, on the surface of the sand ocean, a tall man could not help silently muttering a few confused words as he stared down at Scaly from above. Not understanding her sudden strange actions that were contradictory to the relatively normal hunting she had been doing just seconds earlier.
"I don’t know, it seems to have stopped hunting down monsters and seems to have started moving around the sand ocean in a far more erratic manner. Making it difficult to track down." Beside him, another adventurer chimed in stating the obvious, causing the taller adventurer to frown in displeasure. "I know that much! Ah! Where is that, Verdell?! Hasn’t anyone managed to find that dwarf yet? He was seen riding the dragon, so he should at least know about it and its strange behavior."
"Sorry, a group of S Rank Adventurers attempted to find him, but he seems to have run into the dungeon as well to escape trouble. From what I last heard, he seems to be somewhere within the desert above. The group of S Rank Adventurers have already chased after him and should be able to catch him soon." Gulping somewhat nervously as he felt the taller adventurers gaze bearing down on him, the somewhat smaller adventurer shrunk ever so slightly as he answered the question. Apprehension clear on his face as he was silently hoping this answer would draw the taller adventurer’s attention away from him towards Verdell.
"That troublemaker... Why does he insist on being so troublesome? Wouldn’t it be easier to work with us and obediently hand over the information he has on that dragon?" In the end, the smaller adventurers attempt turned out successful, as the taller adventurer shifted back to cursing Verdell again.
Undoubtedly, Verdell was a wanted figure among adventurers throughout the dungeon now that knowledge of him having ridden the dragon had become well known among the different adventurers attempting to hunt down Scaly.
Almost all the adventurers hunting down Scaly, were at the same time also attempting to hunt down Verdell to try and get information from him, something that had resulted in Verdell being jointly chased down by a group of S Rank Adventurers shortly after he had escaped into the dungeon.
Bad as this was for Verdell, his situation wasn’t entirely negative, as he did at least have some luck in the dungeon he had escaped into, as the swirling sands dungeon didn’t work like a traditional dungeon and instead threw one somewhere random on the first floor of the dungeon. Meaning that it was far harder for the group of adventurers searching for him to him in the short term.
In a way, without this kind of situation, it would have been impossible for him to avoid a group of S Rank Adventurers, as even if he entered the dungeon ahead of them, it wouldn’t have taken them long to trace him down and catch him.
As for what Verdell was planning on doing now that he had made it inside the dungeon before getting caught? Simple... Lay low and stay out of trouble for a bit, when things calmed down again, it would be easy for him to leave without attracting any unwanted attention and when he got back to the dreamscape, there wouldn’t be anyone causing trouble for him given that the adventurers trying to hunt the dragon weren’t those bold enough to enter the dreamscape...
"THE DWARF IS HERE! GET HIM!"
Or at least that was his original plan before he was found the second he had settled down. Giving him no time to relax as he found himself being chased around by a group of adventurers that were luckily weaker than him, but still strong enough to keep up with him as they chased him through the desert.
If things continued like this, it would still be fine, as he felt confident in being able to outlast the group of somewhat weaker adventurers chasing after him, but as things would have it, trouble always showed up when one was already down and the S Rank Adventurers who had entered the dungeon to chase him happened to be nearby and noticed the commotion...
"Oh? Isn’t the one being chased that dwarf, Verdell?"
"Ah? The target!? The one with knowledge on the dragon!?"
"Indeed... Looks like this is going to be far easier than we originally thought given just how large this first floor is and how easy it is to hide..."
And only a short time after the group of S Rank Adventurers marveled over their great luck, Verdell found himself in an even more troublesome situation, as the S Rank Adventurers rushed over from afar. Leaving him with no path out, as there was simply no way an A Rank Adventurer like himself could outrun a group of S Rank Adventurers. Especially considering that he was a mage.
If he happened to be a class that specialized in speed, it might have bene possible to outrun someone at the S Rank while only being at the A Rank, but he wasn’t, so his fate was sealed.
Huh? Isn’t that a path to the second floor...?
Or at least that was what he thought before he noticed a very clear opening leading downwards below a large stone formation.
Originally, it would have been difficult to notice the opening leading downwards towards the second floor of the dungeon, but it seemed like a tsunami had passed through not too long ago. Clearing the sand that should have hidden the path, while leaving the entire place still wet with small puddles around even amidst the hot sun.
Odd as this was, Verdell didn’t think twice as he dove forward towards the underground cave beneath the stone formation that seemed to lead downwards towards the second floor of the dungeon. Understanding that the sand ocean down there might be the only way for him to escape the pursuit of the S Rank Adventurers behind him, as he did luckily have some sand vision powder on him-
Swish~
"Huh? Wha-"
Bang!
But as he was lost in his own thoughts thinking about how to get out of his current situation, he suddenly slipped on the wet rocks and lost his footing. Slamming into the hard rocks with enough force to disorient him, as he stepped forward towards a place, he believed was the path downwards but turned out to be empty air...
Whoosh-!
"Noooo-!"
And along with a somewhat helpless scream, he found himself falling downwards along the same path as another group of adventurers not too long ago. The main difference being that he didn’t get dragged into the seemingly endless abyss by water but had instead ended up stepping forward into the abyss on his own by sheer mistake, a scene that was caught by the adventurers chasing him. Making them freeze, as they didn’t know how to follow him in that kind of situation...