Rustle~!
Passing through the sparse vegetation located at the edge of the swamp, Scaly soon disappeared from view before the terrifying human had the chance to reach her. Soon finding herself inside a hollow tree in case the terrifying human decided to try and chase after her.
Knowing that if she kept just running instead of hiding, it wouldn’t take long for the terrifying human to catch up to her.
As for trying to use the swamp alligators to weaken him and kill him, Scaly understood very well that this was an unrealistic idea. Especially considering that there was a high chance that the swamp alligators wouldn’t even dare approach him after he ended up in the water and-
Craaaack~
Splash!
Just as she was lost in her own thoughts inside the hollow tree, the loud sound of a tree cracking apart before falling into the water echoed out not too far away from the tree she was hiding inside of.
Even without poking her head out to check up on the situation, she had a feeling that the sound should be related to the terrifying human searching for her by destroying the swamp trees. Having guessed correctly that she was hiding inside one of them.
Although this search method was unrealistic to do on a large scale due to the sheer number of trees inside the swamp and how long it would take to destroy all of them, it could be useful if used on only a dozen or so trees-
Craack~
Splash-!
And unfortunately for Scaly, it looked like the terrifying human had decided to go with this method to try and find her. Leaving her with only the simple option of praying that the terrifying human gave up trying to uproot the swamp trees before he could reach the one, she was hiding inside of.
Craaaack~!
Unfortunately, her prayers weren’t answered as she soon felt the tree, she had been hiding inside of starting to shake as it was uprooted by some kind of terrifying force before it began falling in the direction of the water-
Splash!
And only a second later, the thing she had feared happened, as the tree hit the water. Soon causing the murky swamp water to start filling up the small hollowed out part of the tree that she was hiding inside of.
At this point, not to mention the terrifying human who was most likely watching the tree from outside to see if she would emerge, there was also the fact that she was about to drown in the murky swamp water!
Essentially meaning that the only two options standing before her was to forcefully break out of the tree and get back on land before she ended up drowning, or learning how to swim before she ended up drowning.
The first would end up alerting the terrifying human to her presence, while the second was taking a gamble and hoping that her high level in water magic would somehow help her learn how to swim.
Not to mention, even if she somehow ended up learning to swim, she also had to find a way to avoid alerting the swamp alligators who should have been drawn by the disturbance caused by the trees being uprooted and thrown into the water by the terrifying human.
Bang!
However, in the end, she didn’t have much of a choice in what to do, as powerful attack landed on the tree-
Crack-!
Directly splitting the already half submerged tree in half, causing Scaly to be pushed down towards the bottom of the swamp together with one half of the tree. Instantly destroying her little air pocket and full submerging her in the murky water in the process.
The only positive to her current state being the fact that the nearby swamp alligators who had been observing the tree had been scared away by the attack just now and didn’t manage to notice her.
Not that she had any time to worry about this, as she was far too busy trying to figure out how to swim as she randomly flailed around with her four limbs, unable to make any real progress in her attempt to swim up to the surface for air...
H-how can I die like this?! Will I have to meet that weird, tall, winged human again!?
Thinking this to herself as she landed at the bottom of the swamp despite her desperate attempt to swim to the surface, Scaly couldn’t help recalling the strange creature she had encountered before she became a lizard and began to wonder if she would see it again after dying.
[Hm? Dying already? How unfortunate, I thought you want to be a dragon? Someone who makes even the strongest human or monster tremble in fear.]
Well, yes, but I can’t swim...
Ignoring the strangeness of the fact that a screen similar to the one when she looked at her own status or inspected monsters or humans appeared in front of her, Scaly could only weakly answer the strange screen in her head.
[Can’t... Swim? Aren’t you a lizard? Although some aren’t good swimmers, you shouldn’t be one of those- Ah, maybe because of the memories from a past life interfering with some naturally learnt behavioral thing. Now that would be a problem... Give me a moment, I will check up o...]
Not able continue reading the strange screen in front of her as she felt her eyesight darken and her consciousness growing hazy, Scaly soon lost consciousness as her body lifelessly floated in the murky water. No longer flailing around like it had done before-
Whoosh-!
However, before any of the nearby swamp alligators who had been attracted by her desperate attempts to swim had a chance to grab what they perceived to be an easy meal, a white light suddenly engulfed her body before disappearing together with her.
Leaving the swamp alligators in a state of confusion, as they all swam around the spot she had been just a moment ago trying to find her to no avail before dispersing in the direction of the next tree that was uprooted and thrown into the water by the terrifying human who had no clue about the fact that the lizard he was searching for had already disappeared from the swamp.
...
Whoosh-!
Appearing in a space similar to the one she had been in when she reincarnated as a lizard, Scaly silently floated in the air, still unconscious and unaware of what was happening around her.
Standing not only a short distance away from Scaly, the towering, winged human that had walked her through the steps of reincarnation was looking over her with a frown on his devastatingly beautiful face.
Whoosh~
At the same time that the tall, winged human also used some kind of strange power that entered her body. Only for him to frown even more a short moment later.
"Hm... Indeed, it does seem like the memories from a past life ended up messing with the naturally learnt behavior to some extent.
Now, to let her die naturally of drowning and have her soul enter that place or heal her up and drop her off where she was found and pretend nothing happen..."
Swish-!
Not even thinking twice after he said this to himself while looking down at the lifelessly Scaly who was in the process of dying due to the large amount of water that had managed to enter her lungs, the tall, winged human made a simple gesture with his hand as a brilliant golden light enveloped her body before she disappeared from the reincarnation space.
"Truly would be a pity for such an interesting soul to die. Now, she was at the... Third Floor of the Howling Caverns? Hm... This place should be fine to drop her off..." Chuckling to himself as his gaze seemed to penetrate the space in front of him, the tall, winged human made another gesture as the strange power that had enveloped Scaly and taken her out of the place, shuttled through space before arriving above a large island at the center of the third floor of the dungeon.
Whoosh~!
Travelling at a speed that made it impossible for any human or monster to see it, the golden light carrying Scaly soon arrived at the top of a small mountain at the edge of the large island-
Thump!
And without any suspense, it dropped the still unconscious Scaly off before dissipating like it had never been there in the first place.
Leaving Scaly to shiver from the cold wind the swept over her. Soon causing her to open her eyes. Only to be left in a state of shock over the beautiful and unfamiliar scenery that appeared in front of her.
Wha- Where am I? Wasn’t I drowning just a second ago!?
Not to mention the fact that she had clearly been drowning underwater when she lost consciousness, she had now somehow been transported on top of a mountain... And she highly doubted that this was the doing of the terrifying human that had been chasing her, let alone the swamp alligators!