Arriving at the third floor of the dungeon that she had left behind no more than a few hours ago, Scaly could not help glancing down towards the dwarf called Verdell who was firmly pinned to the ground by one of her claws even as he faced the sandstorm head-on.
Looking at his almost pitiful expression as he started trying to free himself, Scaly realized that this might not be the best way for her to treat someone she had to befriend. If anything, this might be a way for her to turn him into an enemy, something she didn’t wish to see happen knowing it would lead to the quest failing and her chance to increase the purity of her dragon blood disappearing along with it.
"Puah! Thanks for letting me go, follow me and I will get us to a safe passage to the second floor that doesn’t have a city or town hiding on the other side." Spitting out some of the sand that had forced its way into his mouth, Verdell quickly got up on his feet and covered himself with a protective scarf and a pair of goggles he pulled out from who knows where. Wasting no time as he took the lead and charged headfirst into the sandstorm, causing Scaly to follow him without much hesitation.
After all, she didn’t exactly have any better idea on how to get through the third floor of the dungeon on her own and had already decided to place her trust in this little dwarf for now as she hoped it would help her complete the quest and befriend him, something that might have been impossible without the appearance of a quest that unknowingly caused her to believe that this subject of the quest wouldn’t attack her because of his unique identity as a dragon seeker.
Like this, the two began making their way through the desert of the third floor plagued by a seemingly permanent sandstorm that only became denser with each passing second. Reaching the point where Scaly ultimately had to relent and allow Verdell on her back, as it was simply impossible for her to see him any longer even as he was less than a meter in front of her.
Embarrassing as it was for her to once again have this small dwarf climb onto her back, she decided not to think too much about it and just viewed it as a sacrifice for the greater good of increasing her strength. Hoping that this would get her closer to establishing a proper friendship with Verdell.
Although, there was one very clear positive to him now riding on her back... And that was the fact that their overall speed increased significantly with Verdell no longer having to constantly look back to ensure she was behind him. Now, only needing to push her head a bit to indicate what direction they needed to move in.
As for what kind of magic, he was using to navigate through the sandstorm that even a dragon as powerful as her couldn’t see through? He had kindly told her along the rather boring journey that he was using some sort of magic compass to track a similarly magical node stone located next to the path leading up to the second floor of the dungeon.
Apparently, this kind of magic compass was required equipment for adventurers descending to the third floor of the dungeon, something Scaly herself found understandable after she had to face the sandstorm on her own in the past and had to essentially move blind through the third floor hoping to find the path to the fourth floor.
In a way, she could be considered extremely lucky when she got to the third floor in the past. Not only because the sandstorm was nowhere near as fierce as it was now, but also because she managed to encounter a group of adventurers who unknowingly ended up showing her the path to the closest passage leading down to the fourth floor.
Without any outside assistance and if the intensity of the sandstorm had reached the same level as the one she currently found herself facing alongside Verdell, she doubted that she would have ever been able to make it the fourth floor and would have most likely just spent her time aimlessly wandering around the third floor before being surrounded and killed by the adventurers chasing after her.
The only somewhat annoying part of their smooth journey through the desert of the third floor was the constant surprise greetings she got from the local inhabitants...
[Death Touch Scorpion, lvl 24]
[Death Touch Scorpion, lvl 35]
[Envoy of Death Valley, lvl 51]
[Death Touch Scorpion, lvl 29]
[Death Touch Scorpion...]
Just by tilting her head slightly to the side, she spotted over a dozen of these lovely local inhabitants eagerly making their way towards her, something that had made her take to the air more than once already, as even with the bad flying conditions of the third floor, it was still better than having to face those local inhabitants that seemed almost endless in numbers now that the ferocity of the sandstorm had increased.
If anything, it almost seemed to her like the increasing ferocity and power of the sandstorm had drawn them out of hiding and caused them to roam in far larger numbers than they did when she had spotted them while making her way through the desert of the third floor in the past.
"Looks like those things really are drawn up by the sandstorm growing stronger... No wonder everyone hunting on the third floor for these things always said it was best to wait until a powerful sandstorm appeared before hunting them, as they would appear endlessly in an agitated state that makes them easy to kill off..."
A fact that was confirmed by the low murmur of the dwarf on her back, who had similarly discovered the large number of scorpions rushing towards them whenever they landed on the ground or took off without any warning.
Luckily, though the constant up and down from escaping the scorpions slowed them down a bit, with a clear path to follow, it didn’t take too long before the two reached the passage leading up to the second floor of the dungeon... And feeling far too excited about finally getting out of the damnable sandstorm swarming with deadly scorpions, Scaly didn’t even bother to push off Verdell as she rushed up the spiral staircase and soon enough emerged back on the second floor of the dungeon that she had fled from not that long ago.
"Huh? A dragon? And... A dwarf?"
"Wow, a dragon! I wonder how strong it is... "
"Who cares about the dragon!? Look at that dwarf on top of it! So powerful looking!"
"True! Dwarfs are well known for their strength! Maybe we should take the time to challenge him to a arm wrestling match!"
But the second she emerged on the second floor of the dungeon and breathed the fresh air without sucking in a playground worth of sand in the process, she heard a surprised exclamation followed by several others, causing her to snap back and shift her attention towards the source of the loud exclamations. Ignoring how odd they were for now.
[Bearkin, Hand Fighting Master, lvl 71]
[Bearkin, Physical Adjustment Cleric, lvl 69]
[Bearkin, Heavy Hand Master, lvl 87]
[Lamia, Palm Enthusiast, lvl 45 ]
[Bearkin, Lord of Hand Combat, lvl 105]
[Bearkin, Hand...]
And soon enough, she found herself facing a group of burly adventurers with one rather odd snake person mixed into the bunch.
Even though it seemed like they didn’t come to hunt her down like the rest of the adventurers she had run into so far, it was clear that they were looking to fight her... And with their strength, it would be difficult for her to take care of them in a short time-
Whoosh~!
Because of this, she decided to take off without the slightest bit of hesitation. Flying off before those odd adventurers had the chance to attack her and Verdell, who also seemed to have turned into a target because of his identity as a dwarf.
"The dwarf and the dragon are escaping!"
"After them! Don’t let them get away!"
"I haven’t had the chance to arm wrestle a dwarf yet! Don’t think you can get away.
Of course, though she had already taken to the sky, the group of overeager adventurers below didn’t seem to care as they began chasing after her from below.
Considering how many adventurers had been chasing her ever since she entered the dungeon, she wasn’t too worried about this, as she would soon enough leave this group of overeager adventurers behind when they became exhausted and couldn’t keep up with her any longer.
Or...
That was what Scaly had imagined would happen, but as she continued flying through the second floor of the dungeon looking for the nearest spiral staircase leading back to the first floor of the tower, she found out that the group chasing her showed no sign of slowing down even in the face of the ocean of sand...