Unaware of the fact that she had been targeted by yet another adventurer, Scaly continued happily chomping down on the delicious mist bound behemoth while Verdell took the opportunity to rest and recover from everything that had happened so far. Trying to figure out what the mist infused crystal he had obtained could be used for in the process, as Scaly herself had no interest in the crystal he had dug out of the mist bound behemoth’s head.
After all, it wasn’t something she could eat nor something that would be useful for increasing her strength. Leaving it for Verdell who seemed interested in it as a reward for him helping her secure the kill on the magic wielding member of the Eternal Life Sanctum was something she was more than happy to do.
In the end, though he attempted to investigate the mist infused crystal and figure out what the members of the Eternal Life Sanctum were planning to use it for, he ended up unsuccessful. Only learning that injecting mana into the crystal caused it to release a vast quantity of mist that made it difficult to see while at the same time also causing the mist infused crystal to become more unstable. Meaning the only real use for the crystal was as a mist maker that could at most be operated for a few minutes before breaking.
As for what would happen when the mist infused crystal broke and released the death energy hidden deep within... Verdell had no clue and had no plans of finding out. Knowing from what little he had learnt about this kind of death energy that it was one of the most dangerous things out there. The main reason being that if the death energy was dense enough, just touching it could kill you if you were too weak and even if you were strong enough to resist it. Contact could still burn away your lifespan.
Only specialized mages or priests proficient in either light magic or divine magic could resist it. For a fire specialized mage like himself, death energy wasn’t exactly something he could deal with, thus he made sure to properly seal away the mist infused crystal before placing it away within a small bag he normally reserved for precious monster materials that just so happened to be empty. Planning to hand over the mist infused crystal to the Holy Light Church after he got out of the dungeon, as they would not only be more than happy to deal with something like this, but would also reward him more than the guild for bringing in something tainted with death energy.
Chomp
~!
Not knowing what Verdell was up to with the shiny head crystal, Scaly happily finished off the edible parts of the mist bound behemoth before plopping down on the ground with a relaxed expression on her face. Deciding to take the opportunity to inspect her status after the recent rapid increase in level she had just experienced thanks to the gracious donations from the group of people from the Eternal Life Sanctum and the mist bound behemoth.
Name: Scaly
Race: Dreamscale Dragon (2nd Stage)
Dragon blood: 42% (Rare)
Level: 26/50, 11%
Mana Heart: Third Circle
STR: 1812 |VIT: 3547| DEX: 2114| M: 6527
Magic: [Dragon Water Magic, lvl 9], [Ice Magic lvl 5], [Wind Magic, lvl 8], [Lightning Magic, lvl 4], [Dream Magic lvl 5]
Skills: [Dragon Bloodline, lvl 4], [Dragon Flight, lvl 8], [Poison/Venom Resistance, lvl 8], [Dragon Claw Strike, lvl 9], [Dragon Breath (Water), lvl 6], [Corrosion Resistance, lvl 4], [Pain Resistance, lvl 6], [Swimming, lvl 6], [Dragon Heart, lvl 1], [Endless Vitality, lvl 2], [Agility, lvl 1], [Brute Force, lvl 1], [Fear Resistance, lvl 1], [Mana Consumption, lvl 2]
Looking through her status and seeing how her strength had was now so close to the two thousand mark, Scaly could not help feeling a bit excited as she knew that she would at least be able to reach two thousand in strength before her next evolution given the current growth of her strength with every level up.
Outside of that, there was only one other change in her status compared to the last time she had checked it, not including her level, and that was the fact that her dragon blood had somehow jumped from 41% to 42%.
Although this was just a tiny increase, it was something she hadn’t anticipated in the slightest and made her realize that the mist bound behemoth she had just consumed might have had some dragon blood flowing through it even if it hadn’t been indicated through the description of the monster.
Great as this was, she also understood that finding another mist bound behemoth was unlikely, as it seemed to be a one-of-a-kind monster that wouldn’t emerge a second time on this floor of the dungeon.
Unfortunate as this was, she also understood that even if a second mist bound behemoth emerged, she might not be strong enough to take it on with her current strength without someone around to first weaken it enough for her to stand a chance at killing it.
At the very least, she wasn’t stuck running from adventurers like she had been not that long ago and had more than enough powerful monsters around for her to hunt down. If anything, the strength of some of the monsters on this floor of the dungeon was high enough that even she had to be somewhat cautious in how she approached the situation. Not much different from how she had ended up dealing with the mist bound behemoth.
"Are you ready to get going?" Seeing her getting up after having finished eating and checking her status, Verdell called out from the side as he had also managed to take advantage of the time to recover and go through the belongings of the now dead members of the Eternal Life Sanctum. Having gained nothing short of a small fortune, as the gold coins on those dead people alone was more than enough for him to happily retire in the future if he wanted to.
Roar~
Letting out a somewhat low roar before nodding her head in agreement with what Verdell said, Scaly followed behind the small dwarf as he began leading her through the thick mist. Not because she wanted to follow behind him, but because it was clear that he had some clue about where he was going, while she had no idea how to make out left from right within the thick grey mist. Especially given how the mist seemed to have grown thicker over time and more difficult to navigate.
As for where exactly Verdell was leading the two of them... He had no idea, as he had just picked a random direction. The confident expression Scaly had seen on his face being nothing more than Scaly’s own imagination, as he was as helpless as her when it came to navigating through the thick grey mist.
Still, as they continued wandering through the grey mist, it didn’t take them more than a few minutes before they encountered their first enemy since dealing with the group of people from the Eternal Life Sanctum and the mist bound behemoth.
[Long-Necked Mist Sheep, lvl 97]
[Description: A sheep twice the size of a normal sheep with a neck over two meters long covered in a thin layer of mist, the long-necked mist sheep is known to inhabit places where mist often gathers to graze on the special mist flower leaves often found growing on tall mist flower trees in such environments. Docile unless provoked outside dungeons considered amongst the weaker A Rank Monsters despite its high level because of how clumsy it is.]
Looking at this odd new monster that emerged from the mist, both Scaly and Verdell were somewhat taken aback. Not so much because of its unique appearance, but instead because-
Thump~
Baaaa~!
The odd sheep barely took a step towards the two of them before tripping over its own legs. Falling flat on its face with its long neck being presented directly in front of Scaly to cut through with little to no effort from her, like an experience bundle delivered directly to her without any strings attached.
Swish~ Ptsh!
[Gained 10.988 Exp]
Of course, keeping up her image, Scaly didn’t hesitate for a second before her sharp claw swiftly cut through the fragile neck of the long-necked mist sheep. Killing it before it could let out another baa sound.
From start to finish, Verdell didn’t even have the chance to react to the odd sheep before it was already dead on the ground before him, causing him to question his life, as he could clearly sense this clumsy monster was only slightly below himself in terms of strength.
It wasn’t because he found it odd that this monster was also at the A Rank, but more so the fact that a monster this clumsy had managed to survive long enough to reach the A Rank in this kind of deadly environment. After all, different from Scaly, he did at least have some knowledge of this kind of sheep monster and understood that they wouldn’t naturally evolve into their mist variant and needed to live long enough inside a misty environment to evolve into this unique long-necked sheep variant even inside a dungeon.