Doing her best to avoid any of the sandworms that got too close, Scaly began moving deeper into the sea of sand with no discernible goal outside of getting away from the sandworms currently in a feeding frenzy devouring everything around them.
Not much different from her, the monsters who had been moving deeper into the sea of sand ahead of her, were also escaping in a similar fashion. The main difference compared to before being that none of them had the time to attack her, as they were far too busy trying to escape from the sandworms.
In a sense, this was a good outcome for Scaly, as she didn’t need to waste any of her energy trying to fight with these monsters and could instead continue moving deeper into the desert without any worries outside of the fact that her goal of finding somewhere to relax and recover her strength was getting further and further away.
By the time that the forest disappeared behind the sand dunes of the sea of sand, Scaly had a feeling that she wouldn’t see that forest any time soon, as she continued moving deeper into the desert following the monsters that had now begun fighting with each other again.
The only upside was the fact that it was relatively easy to avoid fighting as long as she continued moving forward, as any monster targeting her would soon give up and attack another monster instead.
Continuing for what felt like an hour avoiding combat like this, Scaly soon noticed something appearing in the distance that looked like a rock sticking up from the sand, but as she got closer to it over the next few minutes, it continued growing in size until it reached a point where it towered over her and the rest of the monsters like a small mountain.
Looking at the different monsters who began making their way into the small mountain through countless openings in the side of the small mountain, Scaly realized that this small mountain was the goal of these monsters and the reason why they made the difficult journey through the sea of sand.
Now, the obvious question on Scaly’s mind became what was inside the small mountain that caused all of these monsters to risk their life to reach.
Of course, outside of that, Scaly first intended to find a place to hide inside or around the small mountain before she intended to try and enter the mountain to find out what all of these monsters were trying to reach.
Considering the countless openings in the side of the mountain, this wasn’t that hard. Instead, the hardest part was finding a place where she wouldn’t be discovered and attacked by other monsters while resting.
The higher points of the mountain seem to be the safest. Although there are also quite a few flying monsters entering the mountain through openings up there, they are far fewer than those on the ground. Not to mention, several spots are completely deserted. Making perfect hiding locations for me to recover my strength over the next few hours.
As she thought this to herself, Scaly didn’t stand around and get attacked by the rather impatient monsters behind her and instead began to make her way up the small mountain in search of a crevice or crack big enough for her to hide inside of and get a quick nap.
Ptsh-!
[Gained 127 Exp]
[Gained 156 Exp]
Not forgetting to kill two easy to carry monsters along the way for her to enjoy in peace without being disturbed.
Soon enough arriving in front of a small hole in the side of the mountain out of the way and barely large enough to fit her inside of it, while at the same time being out of the way from any larger openings in the mountain that the different monsters used to enter the small mountain.
Perfect! I should be able to get a few hours of sleep without being disturbed here...!
Feeling satisfied with her sleeping spot, Scaly didn’t waste any time as she happily chomped down on one of the monsters she had dragged along with her for eating, while at the same time conjuring up some water for her to drink with her water magic. Fully enjoying a satisfying meal after a few rather stressful hours.
Given that her location was on top of a small mountain, she didn’t have to worry about the sandworms that could now be seen from where she was.
Currently, the sandworms were still busy feeding on the countless monsters that emerged from both the sea and the forest bordering the sea of sand.
However, at this point in time, the sand worms had already cut off the path to the small mountain she was on top of. Not just that, but from her current heigh elevation, she could also see several other similar small mountains with similarly large numbers of monsters moving towards them all across the sea of sand.
Incidentally, she also discovered that these small mountains also had several dozen sandworms around them feeding on the monsters moving towards the small mountains.
In total, she spotted four other small mountains similar to the one she was currently on top of and more than a hundred sandworms. Making her reevaluate her first thought of it being impossible for there to be any larger sandworms present inside the sea of sand.
After all, if the constant stream of monsters wasn’t a rare occurrence, there might be enough food to nurture an even larger sandworm!
Narrowing both her eyes as she thought about this to herself while staring at the constant battles between the sandworms and the monsters trying to escape from, Scaly focused her attention back on the monster she had dragged up the mountain with her and was in the process of eating, a large snake that had the same color as the sand below.
Chomp~!
However, the important part about this snake was that it tasted just like a chewy kind of gummy candy with strawberry flavor. Truly delicious.
Soon finishing up the snake and the second monster she had brought along with her, Scaly decided to check out her status before going to sleep.
Name: Scaly
Race: Ancient Water Dragon Lizard
Level: 29/30, 64%
STR: 106 |VIT: 230| DEX: 91 | M: 246
Skills: [Dragon Bloodline lvl 3], [Flight lvl 2], [Water Magic lvl 7], [Poison Resistance lvl 2], [Claw Strike lvl 5], [Swimming lvl 1]
Outside of the fact that her strength had finally managed to break through a hundred during her hunting session, her claw strike skill had also managed to level up to level five, as it was the main attack she had used for killing the weaker monsters she had been hunting.
Her magic was still stuck at level 7 without any sign of improving. Making her seriously wonder if she had to do something special to advance her magic further. After all, it wasn’t like she didn’t use her water magic, she used it in almost every battle she fought.
Of course, it could also just be that it took far longer to advance her magic from level 7 to level 8 than she thought it would take.
Then, there was the more important thing with her status, the fact that she had managed to reach level 29 during her hunting session at the shoreline.
Before long, she should be able to reach level 30 and qualify for her next evolution. Possible even reaching level 30 after her quick rest, as the countless monsters below would be more than enough to help her easily reach level 30 in a short period of time, similar to how she had quickly managed to go from level 26 to level 29 by hunting down the monsters emerging from the sea and making their way into the sea of sand.
Hehe, soon, I will take revenge on that ancient dire wolf, those sandworms and those humans!
Already imagining how powerful she would become after her next evolution, Scaly smiled happily to herself as she made her way inside the hole in the mountain before using a few scattered rocks to try and somewhat seal up the entrance and prevent any monster passing by outside from noticing where she was sleeping.
Even if she ended up unfortunate enough to get noticed by a passing by monster, she would at least be alerted to the intruder by the rocks being knocked out of the way. Giving her time to wake up and fight back.
As for the monster corpses just outside that would undoubtedly give away her location, Scaly made sure to push them down the mountain before she retreated into the mountain to sleep. Even making sure that there weren’t any obvious remains around for passing monsters to easily notice.
Sleep time~
And like this, Scaly slowly laid down on the rocky surface of the mountain hole before drifting off. Falling asleep only a few seconds later.