"Looks like jumping off the mountain was indeed the correct choice." Muttering this to himself as he continued drifting aimlessly through the air, Verdell could not help breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing the familiar dragon that had been discreetly following behind jump forward and attack the winged wolf made of algae the second it took to the sky in an attempt to catch up with him.
Although he couldn't see the entirety of the battle as the two clashing with each other had already started plummeting towards the ground, he was fully confident that the dragon would end up on top. Not just because it was a dragon, but because he had personally witnessed how powerful this dragon was and doubted it would act if it wasn't confident in killing the winged wolf.
Whoosh~!
And indeed, like he had expected, the dragon soon emerged from behind the tall trees that had obscured her form not long ago when she crashed towards the ground alongside the winged wolf and disappeared from view.
Even better, she was coming straight towards him-
"Wait a second… Is this really better? After all, I'm the only one who is currently on a class quest that needs me to befriend-
Bang!
Not even getting the chance to finish what he was saying, Verdell only felt something massive crashing into him, as the dragon that had come flying towards him had unfortunately not been able to stop in time as her attempt to stop him before he fell into the hands of other adventurers ended up with her slamming headfirst into him. Destroying the feather falling spell that had been keeping him afloat and causing both of them to plummet towards the ground together.
Even Scaly, who had wanted to capture him before other adventurers could, was taken aback by the sudden turn of events. Having miscalculated the speed at which he was gliding through the air and having used a bit too much of her wind magic to increase her own speed in an attempt to catch up with him, something that ultimately resulted in her crashing into Verdell midair.
As for undoing his feather falling spell? That wasn't her intention, it was just that the spell itself was prone to failure the second its user took any kind of damage... And from the pained expression on the face of the small dwarf, it was clear to anyone watching that he had suffered a significant amount of damage from the head on collision with Scaly.
If anything, it almost looked like he was about to faint from the pain he had been subjected to. After all, it wasn't exactly painless to have a dragon her size crash into you and might even be enough to kill some weaker adventurers directly…
Luckily for Verdell, he did at the very least possess a strong enough vitality to survive the impact, though it did ultimately render his feather falling spell useless.
This… I… I need to catch him before he hits the ground!
Unknown to Verdell, who had the air knocked out of his lungs, Scaly was very much panicking as she found herself plummeting towards the ground alongside Verdell. Knowing very well that there was no way for this small dwarf to survive falling from such a great height. Even she herself felt that it would be difficult to survive such a fall.
Because of that, she quickly focused on catching Verdell-
Swish-!
"Huh?"
Using one of her claws to catch hold of a bewildered dwarf who had yet to comprehend what was happening before unfurling her wings to slow their descent just before they crashed into the ground.
Thud~
Even then, the two of them still ended up hitting the ground with enough force to send both rolling into a nearby tree, causing a small, startled bird to fall off a branch and land on top of Verdell.
Piii~!?
Letting out a small, startled cry as flapped both of its wings frantically to escape from Verdell's head after seeing the dragon right next to him. Leaving behind a small present on top of his head in the process, as the small bird soon enough disappeared within the canopy of a nearby tree.
"…"
A turn of events that Verdell didn't find the slightest bit funny, as his first action upon recovering from the rough landing was to use a simple cleaning spell to get rid of the small present that had been left behind on top of his head by the small, startled bird.
Only, as he lifted himself up and began to get back on his feet, he unknowingly ended up touching Scaly's head in the process, causing the dragon in question to shake off the bold little dwarf as she similarly rose to her feet after the fall.
"Huh? This is-!?"
But Verdell had no time to focus on any of this, as he noticed part of his class quest had suddenly been completed the instant, he touched the head of Scaly…
[Trial of the Dragon Seeker]
[You have been chosen by the Dragon Seeker to fulfill his lifelong wish to find a dragon and befriend it. The dragon can't be a juvenile or young dragon. Complete this simple wish and the path forward will be clear.]
[Befriend a dragon: 0/1]
[Pet a dragon: 1/1 (Complete]
[Ride a dragon: 1/1 (Complete)]
Looking through the class quest, he only had one more task remaining to successfully complete the class quest, something that caused him to spin around and look towards Scaly filled with an undying passion. Eager to befriend this dragon as fast as possible so he could successfully take that final step and complete his class quest. Knowing very well how difficult it would be for him to get such an opportunity again in the future.
What in the world is wrong with this dwarf? Looking at me so weirdly… Is this perhaps an effect of being a dragon seeker…?
Leaving the subject of the passionate stare deeply confused, as she could only guess that this sudden change, compared to how he had been the last time she had been around him, had something to do with him becoming a dragon seeker.
Still, uncomfortable as this passionate gaze was, it wasn't entirely bad considering she had to befriend this little dwarf to complete her own quest.
If things continued, she guessed that it would take more than a few minutes to establish a friendship and in turn successfully complete the quest. Giving her the chance to take off in search of a path to the fifth floor of the dungeon.
After all, she still had to worry about the adventurers chasing after her and needed to find a way to the fifth floor of the dungeon to ensure her own safety, something that had proven to be far more difficult than she had originally anticipated.
Even now, while she was taking some time to recover from the fall alongside Verdell, the adventurers chasing after her were probably already in the process of encircling her current location.
In a way, it was also because she knew the adventurers chasing after her would show up soon that she wanted to complete the quest as fast as possible so she could leave Verdell behind to search for a path to the fifth floor of the dungeon on her own.
"Over here! I definitely saw the dragon falling down over here!"
"Are you sure? A dragon falling from the sky isn't exactly something they are known for…"
"What do you know! I saw it fighting some monster early, it might be exhausted and injured! A perfect time for us to strike before it recovers enough to escape again!"
"That… I understand, everyone! Get moving immediately!"
However, as she was pondering how to convince Verdell into becoming her friend within a time as short as possible, the loud yells of adventurers echoing out nearby suddenly caused her to panic slightly.
Not out of fear, but because she realized that she likely didn't even have a few minutes to convince Verdell to become her friend. Only now, understanding the reality, that she had ended up landing far closer to the edge of the mountain range than she had originally believed. Meaning that adventurers would undoubtedly have seen her earlier battle in the sky and started swarming towards her current location.
Whoosh~
"Huh? Aaaah-!"
Taking the opportunity while Verdell wasn't paying attention, she wasted no time grabbing hold of him with one of her claws before taking off into the sky. Not intending to give up this opportunity to increase the purity of her blood.
As for why she was carrying him with her claws instead of having him on her back like she had in the dreamscape? That was obviously because she had no intention of allowing this little dwarf to sit on top of her! That time back in the dreamscape was merely an accident and something that had happened during a desperate situation. Not something she could stop or do anything about.
Now that she was in control, there was no way she was going to allow him onto her back!