Setting off towards the lone tree in the distance while empowered by the strange mixture that would ensure his strength reached a level where contending with some weaker S Rank Monsters without fire magic became possible, Verdell felt confident that the rest of the journey would go just as smooth as his path through the tall grass had been so far. Part of him hoping that another brawl could break out somewhere close to him again after he left the area influenced by the brawl that had by now grown distant enough that the surrounding monsters were completely unaware of the deadly struggle taking place close to the edge of the grass field.
Of course, though part of him hoped for another brawl to break out close to him, he also understood that getting away undetected for a second time would be close to impossible. Not just because the monsters were far more numerous, but also because they were moving far closer to one another. If he attempted to fight any monster, it wouldn’t be long before he would be swarmed by the surrounding monsters.
Maybe because of this, the monsters moving around were far more cautious compared to their counterparts at the edge of the tall grass. Making them far harder to sneak past- or that was at least what he had originally believed, but after spending half an hour moving through the tall grass, he realized that even when he accidentally made a sound loud enough to catch the attention of the surrounding monsters, they didn’t come charging at him filled with killing intent like he had expected. Instead, they would slowly approach to investigate the situation. Giving him enough time to escape before any of the monsters had the time to spot him.
In the end, the only monsters daring enough to move around with little care for their surroundings within the tall grass became the few top predators that clearly had some strength beyond that of most other monsters. Allowing them to move around freely without having to cover away in fear most of the time like the rest of the monsters within the tall grass. Giving Verdell a relatively easy time moving around as long as he made sure to keep his head down whenever an S Rank Monster got close to him. Luckily, the S Rank Monsters did little to hide themselves and were easy to spot before they got anywhere close to spotting him.
By the time he reached the second milestone or rather checkpoint on his journey towards the dungeon core that now appeared only a short distance away from his current location, a total of three hours had flown by since he left Scaly and plunged headfirst into the tall grass on his own. The entire journey, having been far more peaceful than he had originally anticipated, as outside of a few reckless monsters around the C Rank, he didn’t end up having to fight any other monsters within the tall grass. Avoiding the stronger ones, while also making sure to get away in time after killing a monster. Making sure to cover up the bloody wound he left behind to delay the monsters all around him from detecting the bloody scent immediately.
Thud~
Leaning against the lone tree as he thought about the different monsters he had encountered and especially those deadly ones, he had managed to avoid being discovered by, Verdell couldn’t help wondering how Scaly was doing.
Although he wasn’t exactly worried about her safety given the simple fact that she was stronger than him and at the same time also had the ability to fly, he did worry about what she might be up to as he seriously doubted she would just be waiting for him to return.
Rustle~
But as he thought about what Scaly might be up to, a rustling sound from the nearby grass immediately forced him to focus back on his surroundings while silently crawling up the trunk of the lone tree out of sight before any monster could potentially jump out from the grass and attack him. Not worried about any monsters lurking within the crown of the tree, as he had already checked for any when he arrived while also making sure the tree wasn’t some kind of tree-shaped monster in disguise.
Any thoughts about what Scaly what might be doing at this moment having vanished as he realized he couldn’t lower his guard to wonder about the fate of his companion before he reached the dungeon core and found somewhere safe to hide out while getting ready to face the side effects of the unique strengthening mixture he had taken earlier.
In fact, given his familiarity with said mixture and how he had already drunk said mixture in the past, he could tell that the effect of the mixture was wearing off faster than he had originally anticipated. Able to hold on for at most another two hours judging from what he could tell from his own state, a thing that was far more important for him to handle compared to wondering what a certain little dragon was up...
Thump~
And as he thought about this, the culprit behind the rustling sound soon enough revealed itself, as what looked like a large cat emerged with a monster he himself had finished off only a few minutes earlier in its mouth. Settling down right beneath the lone tree he had climbed up just seconds earlier to avoid being detected. An action he already started regretting, as the monster below showed no signs of leaving any time soon. Beginning to slowly nibble away at the dead monster in a lazy manner that made its intentions of staying around clear.
"..."
Staring down at the large cat that was in fact a unique S Rank Monster known as a night phantom cat, Verdell had no words to say as he silently gazed off into the distance in the direction of the dungeon core.
Out of all the S Rank Monsters he could have ended up running into, it had to be on that was known as one of the deadliest S Rank Monsters out there. Not because it was the strongest or even amongst the strongest S Rank Monsters, but instead because it was by far one of the most troublesome S Rank Monsters out there and also one of the rare few that could be found almost everywhere throughout the world with the only real difference being their fur, as they tended to take on different colors depending on their environment. An example being the one now directly below him that had taken on a green color to blend in with the tall grass.
Because of this and the fact that it could be found almost everywhere throughout the world, the night phantom cat was amongst the hundred most deadly monsters for adventurers to encounter out there. Claiming countless adventurers year after year with their intricate ambushes and great hiding abilities.
The only positive to his current situation was the fact that he hadn’t been ambushed by the night phantom cat. If he had, he doubted he would have been able to make it out alive even with the increased strength provided by the strength enhancing mixture he had taken a few hours earlier.
But outside of not being ambushed, he didn’t have anything else going for him. Understanding that he stood little chance of catching an ambush predator like the one below off guard, as there was a good chance it would be able to react in time and counterattack before he could even get anywhere close.
Only fire magic would allow him to kill of this monster before it had a chance to react, but... Using fire magic wasn’t really an option within the sea of very flammable tall grass that tended to turn into terrifying magical fire when lit on fire.
So... Even if he wanted nothing more than to continue on his journey towards the dungeon core that was close enough that he felt he could touch it by reaching out his hand, he was forced to wait in the tree while waiting for the night phantom cat below to finish up its meal.
Of course, what he worried about wasn’t so much having to wait around for a bit, but instead the strengthening mixture’s effect running out and having to face the side effects head on while there was a night phantom cat directly below him.
For this reason, he couldn’t stop himself from silently hurrying the night phantom cat to finish eating as he silently did his best to ensure he was invisible from below, something that luckily wasn’t difficult to accomplish with how densely packed together the tree leaves were. Not that this was much of a permanent solution to the problem in question, as he still had to figure out how to deal with the side effects of the strengthening mixture that had only provided him with minimal help so far and seemed like it was about to place him in a very deadly situation...