Pushing the growing worry that he had started to feel now that he didn’t have a dragon to rely on for safety to the back of his mind, it didn’t take long before he heard a distinct rustling sound. Followed by the soft yet audible sound of something tearing into flesh. Flesh that undoubtedly belonged to the now dead rabbit monster he had just killed a few seconds earlier. Making him understand just how close he had been to being attacked by whatever monster had managed to get to the now dead rabbity monster first.
Although he wasn’t afraid of a fight, he also understood that staying in one place for too long would end up attracting more monsters. If he ended up stuck fighting for too long, he might even find himself surrounded by the time he wanted to leave.
The danger of the tall grass wasn’t so much the monsters themselves on their own, but more so the fact that killing one would attract the rest of the monsters lurking within the tall grass. Take the monster rabbit as an example. By the time he had managed to create some distance between himself and the dead rabbit monster, a brawl had already broken out amongst the different monsters that had been attracted to the scene by the smell of blood
Difficult as it was to see beyond a few meters around himself within the tall grass, he still managed to catch a few glimpses of the brawl in question. Spotting at least three different A Rank Monster and seven B Rank Monsters he recognized along with a dozen others he hadn’t seen before.
Faced with this kind of lineup, even he would find himself in a dangerous position without the ability to rely on fire magic. The only real option being to try and escape before the monsters managed to join up in fighting him.
Luckily, things didn’t turn out like this and he had been smart enough to retreat the second after he killed the large rabbit monster, something a more inexperienced adventurer might have hesitated about given how a few precious parts of the rabbit monster could be secured with relatively little effort in a minute or two.
Of course, the luckiest part of the entire situation was the simple fact that he hadn’t ended up running headfirst into a monster that had been attracted to the dead rabbit monster. This was something he couldn’t influence no matter how fast he decided to leave after killing the rabbit monster.
Still, he was still far too close to the dead rabbit monster and the brawl surrounding who would ultimately claim the corpse was still expanding in size with more monsters trickling in to join the battle. So, without much hesitation, he continued moving through the tall grass in the opposite direction of the dead rabbit monster he had just finished off while making sure to keep an eye and ear open for any sign of monsters around him.
A decision that proved to be lifesaving, as he had to readjust his path several times to avoid running into over eager monsters rushing towards the expanding brawl that had broken out behind him.
One time, he even had to roll to the side and lay down flat on the ground for good two minutes as a group of monsters ran straight past him, their excitement over joining the brawl blinding them to the small dwarf trying his best to remain hidden on the ground as they moved past.
It was also this group of monsters that had allowed him to confirm that there were indeed S Rank Monsters hidden within the tall grass, as the monster that had been leading that group of monsters was at the S Rank. The only reason he managed to avoid detection being because of the loud commotion caused by the brawl, as without such a large distraction around, he doubted he would have ever been able to sneak past an S Rank Monster.
In fact, because of the constant stream of monsters joining the increasingly bloody brawl behind him, Verdell soon enough came to find that the path through the tall grass normally fraught with danger around every corner as he had to worry about running into monsters hidden all around him had turned silent with not a single monster around.
The originally deadly path through the tall grass that should have been deadly had become safe, as he managed to successfully reach the first hill he had set as the first official milestone on his path to the dungeon core within half the time, he had originally thought it would take him to reach it.
The small hill not only served as a milestone that let him know he was around a third of the way to the dungeon core, but also as a small resting place where he would be able to recover some strength. Having noted from observing the sea of green that surrounded the dungeon core that the monsters lurking within the tall grass tended to avoid the different hills scattered throughout the tall grass.
Though this was worrisome in its own way as it could signify the presence of a powerful monster, he hadn’t been able to spot any and believed it to be fine using a few of the hills with trees and other shrubbery on top of them. Not daring to get anywhere close to those hills without any sign of plants or trees on them. Understanding there was a very real chance that those seemingly barebone hills were monsters in disguise.
In a way, he had already half believed this was the case, as that would at the very least explain why the monsters living within the tall grass tended to avoid the hills within the tall grass.
How they had learnt this within the few hours since they had come into existence was a mystery that a little mage like himself couldn’t answer and was better left for those dungeon researchers and scholars who spent their life trying to figure out how dungeons operated and the life inside them came to be.
Rustle~! Ruslte~ Roaaar!
Listening to the brawl that could still be glimpsed from afar as he leaned back against the gentle slope of the hill, Verdell couldn’t help relaxing as he took the opportunity to crush a small handful of precious herbs he had gathered along the way before mixing the liquid together into a rather strange concoction that would leave any alchemist screaming in horror.
Not just because of the clear and obvious waste of good herbs, but also because the concoction in question was one every alchemist knew about and hated with passion. A simple on the go strength enhancing potion that any random adventurer knew how to mix when needed, that as the name suggested, increased one’s strength for a few hours after consumption.
The reason why this concoction was hated, outside of the waste of perfectly good herbs that could have been put to better use in the hands of an alchemist, was the fact that this kind of strengthening mixture didn’t come without side effects. Among which was anything from ending up dazed for a few seconds to vomiting and diarrhea. In case the mixture was made by an inexperienced adventurer, it could even turn into a deadly poison.
Of course, Verdell was far from inexperienced and knew how to make this kind of unique little mixture and even had some rather high-quality ingredients on hand this time around. Ensuring that he should be able to avoid the worst of the side effects associated with consuming the strength enhancing mixture.
As for why he was only deciding to make this little mixture now instead of before he entered the tall grass? That was because of the S Rank Monster he had ended up just barely avoiding a few minutes earlier...
While he could stand his own against an A Rank Monster without fire magic, he stood little chance in the face of an S Rank Monster and had to do everything in his power to ensure he would be able to hold his own in case he really did end up finding himself face to face with an S Rank Monster.
Although...
Another reason why he didn’t take this mixture also had to do with the fact that he didn’t want to suffer from the side effects of this kind of deadly adventurer special mixture. Having already suffered through it in the past. Not to mention, now that he had swallowed the mixture, he had at most five hours to get near the dungeon core and find somewhere safe to lay low while the side effects kicked in...
Just thinking about it caused a shiver to run down his spine as he silently got back up on his feet and began heading towards the next milestone on his journey through the tall grass, one of the lone trees that could be found throughout the sea of green.