Having now dealt with close to 10 of the gnolls from the small tribe. Reducing their number by almost a third, it finally dawned on the remaining gnolls that something was wrong.
Growwl-!
Because of this, instead of going out to search for the gnolls that had gone out to search for the pair of missing gnolls, the gnoll shaman took command of the situation and ensured that the rest of the gnolls remained inside the tribe and prepared for a possible attack.
Although it didn’t have any idea what was attacking its tribe, it understood that it wasn’t strong enough to take it on directly. If not, it would have already attacked the tribe and wouldn’t have killed off the gnolls outside the tribe silently.
Huh? They didn’t come out to investigate what happened?
Watching this from afar, Scaly could not help feeling puzzled watching how the gnoll shaman decided to shut off the tribe and safeguard every direction instead of trying to go out and find out what had happened to the group of gnolls that hadn’t returned.
Even though it was by far the smartest choice when faced with an unknown opponent that seemed to be silently killing off its tribe, Scaly hadn’t expected a monster to make such a decision. Especially considering that the monsters she had faced so far weren’t really smart by any stretch of the imagination.
For the first time since she had started hunting monsters, Scaly was faced with a truly intelligent monster beyond anything she had ever faced before. Comparable to the humans that she had done her best to avoid so far.
I... I underestimated it... No wonder the description said that only a gnoll tribe with a shaman would be capable of trading with humans, it looks like their intelligence really is comparable to that of humans!
Thinking this to herself as she kept her attention focused on the gnoll shaman giving out orders to the different gnolls now guarding every corner of the tribe, Scaly could not help feeling that it would be impossible for her to get anywhere near the tribe without being discovered.
Even if she wanted to get close enough to kill one of the gnolls before running away, it was doubtful that she would be able to use her water magic within range of a gnoll before being discovered. After all, she didn’t have the cover of two gnoll corpses masking up her scent this time around. Making it rather easy for the gnoll to notice her.
But... Even if they want to continue to stay inside their tribe, they will run out of food at some point and will be forced to go out- Ah... How long will that take? Will I be stuck doing nothing while waiting for them to run out of food?
Narrowing both her eyes as she thought about this, Scaly also realized that she might end up stuck without any gnolls to hunt down for days if she decided to wait for them to run out of food before getting a chance to attack them.
Then again, attacking them directly with her current strength was not an option, as even if she could face the gnoll shaman head on, she would also have to deal with the over 20 remaining gnolls still left in the tribe...
Guess I will have to find somewhere else to hunt... Hmph! I will make sure to return in the future and deal with all of you!
Rustle~
Not intending to waste so much time just on a few gnolls, Scaly directly turned around and began to search for other monsters to hunt down. Intending to take care of the gnoll tribe in the future when she grew strong enough to take on the entire tribe by herself without needing to take them down silently like she had done so far.
Growwl-!
Of course, even if Scaly left the tribe alone for now, there was no way for the gnoll shaman to know this, as it continued to be on edge. Keeping everyone in the tribe prepared for an attack that would never happen.
...
Leaving behind the gnoll tribe, Scaly continued to travel around the forest in search of monsters to hunt, while making sure that she didn’t get anywhere close to where she had encountered the gnoll chieftain.
Luckily, it did not take her long before she encountered another monster around the same level as the gnolls...
[Big Forest Rabbit, lvl 16]
[Description: A normal forest rabbit that has grown and evolved into a bigger forest rabbit. Different from its smaller counterpart, it’s well known for being aggressive and often feeds on its fallen foes. Although its meat is nowhere near as delicious as a normal forest rabbit, it’s still delicious, nonetheless. Be careful of consuming them if found near a cemetery, as they tend to dig up the dead to eat. Not just that, but a big forest rabbit like that might be in the process of evolving into an undead monster. Eating a monster like that can result in certain deadly diseases.]
Although the monster in question had a rather extensive description and seemed to even include a possible evolutionary path, it was nothing more than a large rabbit that was peacefully chomping down on a large patch of grass without the slightest worry in the world.
Even with the ominous part of the description, Scaly could not feel the slightest bit scared of the large fluff ball that it was...
Swish!
And without wasting any time, she attacked the seemingly defenseless fluffball-
Chiiiing~!
However, just as her claws were about to pierce into the rabbit, pair of similarly sharp claws met hers. Blocking her attack!
Squeak...!
Not even a second after blocking her attack, the rabbit she had attacked let out a weird squeaking sound-
Rustle~!
[Big Forest Rabbit, lvl 21]
[Forest Rabbit, lvl 7]
[Big Forest Rabbit, lvl 14]
[Forest Rab...]
And soon enough, Scaly found herself surrounded on all sides by both normal forest rabbits and larger big forest rabbits!