Hehe, the giant water ball is quite useful when used in mountainous terrain. The only unfortunate part about it is the fact that it used up almost all of my mana, while also being physically draining to control.

Looking at the place where the monsters had been swept over the edge of the mountain and into a valley below before dying, Scaly could not help smiling with satisfaction at the awesome display of power by her newly invented giant water ball.

Although it had indeed left her in a rather precarious situation, with her physical state being in no condition to fight of the remaining monsters still gathered her and the mana left in her body barely being enough to create another water ball, Scaly didn't worry too much about escaping.

Roar?

Roar…

Ro-roar…!

The main reason for this soon presented itself, as the remaining monsters all looked towards her filled with fear after her most recent display of magic. None of them showed the same eagerness as they had done earlier when they thought they could overwhelm her with numbers.

After all, they all witnessed how the giant water ball had easily swept away a dozen powerful monsters who were unable to fight back as they were dragged over the edge and fell to their death.

Even if some of them still believed that they would be able to overwhelm Scaly with the 50 or so monsters that were left surrounding her, they also understood that the price for doing so would be massive. Possibly resulting in half or maybe more of them dying in the process.

And… Considering that none of these monsters wanted to take on such a high risk for something that might not even benefit them, it didn't take long before the first few monsters turned around and left. Not daring to continue blocking Scaly's path, as they feared that they might end up becoming the next targets of her powerful magic.

Rustle~!

Following the first few monsters running away, it didn't take long before the rest of the monsters came to a similar decision as they also turned around and left without continuing to approach Scaly.

In the end, Scaly was soon left standing alone. None of the monsters aware that her current state was no better than a random mountain rabbit. Having no real way to fight back if the large number of monsters decided to continue working together to kill her.

Of course, it didn't mean that she didn't have any plans on how to escape, as she had intended to follow the monsters that had been dragged off the mountain and jump into the valley below. Intending to try and make use of her wings and dragon flight skill to at least slow down her speed enough that she wouldn't end up turning into a dragon pancake upon reaching the valley below.

What a pity… I was really looking forward to trying to fly…

Glancing towards the escaping monsters in the distance, Scaly could not help longingly turning towards the edge of the mountain as a few dangerous thoughts surfaced.

Unknowingly, after her evolution had been completed and she officially grew a pair of juvenile wings on her back, a desire to fly had unknowingly been born inside of her.

A desire that didn't have any regard for the fact that her current wings could at most flap around a bit without providing any real flying ability. Even the matter of drifting through the air with the help of her small pair of wings was a rather doubtful endeavor given how small and weak they were compared to the size of her body.

In a sense, it was a rather lucky thing for Scaly that the monsters had decided to back off after seeing the unfortunate demise of the dozen or so monsters that had been caught by the giant water ball.

If they hadn't stopped, there was a very real chance that Scaly would find out the hard way that she couldn't drift through the air like a chicken with her small wings.

Whoosh~!

Not that Scaly had time to think about any of this, as she quickly left the place and made her way down the mountain to look for a safer place to stay. Not heading further up the mountain or trying to look for a cave to hide in and recover her mana, as she had clearly seen that the monsters from earlier had done this.

Meaning, if she ended up running into one of them, it wouldn't take long before she ended up exposing the fact that her strength was nowhere near what the different monsters thought it was.

At that point in time, it would be even more difficult for her to escape, as she would have moved too far away from the edge of the mountain to try off her gliding or flying method of escaping.

Because of all this, she ended up choosing the more boring decision of making her way down the mountain towards the small valley that the group of monsters had been swept into by her big water ball. Not for any other reason than the fact that the monsters there were far too weak to pose any real threat to her even in her current weakened state.

In a way, the biggest problem she might encounter was the mountain rabbits she had seen roaming around the base of the mountain.

Although not a threat under normal circumstances where she treated them as the most delicious snack in the mountain range, they did pose a real threat to her in her current state.

Though, this was mostly due to the fact that she would need some time to deal with them, time that would show the monsters that might still be observing her from a distance that her strength had weakened and they could jump in to attack her without having to worry about facing a similar fate as the dozen or so monsters who had ended up dying to her giant water ball.

Of course, outside of the worry that her current weakened state might be seen through, Scaly also worried that the monsters might become brave enough to attack her after she got into the valley below, as there were no more ledges for them to fall off down there.

Even if they had hidden themselves for now, Scaly understood that there was a very real chance that they were still secretly following her. Waiting for an opportunity to strike.

After all, this was exactly what she had done in the past when faced with a stronger opponent that she couldn't outright defeat on her own, a behavior she had also witnessed from other monsters back at the second floor of the dungeon when she had been faced with the cave alligator and the berserk cave troll.

Thinking back to the situation back then, she couldn't help realizing that the berserk cave troll might have been in a similar situation as she was in now back when it had left to descend down towards the third floor of the dungeon.

It might not be because it wanted to seek out stronger monsters to become stronger like she had first thought, but instead because it was in a weakened state after its battle and understood that staying would only end up resulting in death. Especially if it ended up showing a weakness Scaly or the other monsters could take advantage of…

Remembering the berserk cave troll that she should have encountered after she herself descended down the spiral staircase and down to the third floor of the dungeon, Scaly realized that the reason she didn't end up seeing it might have been because it had been hiding away somewhere on crab island. Recovering its strength without being noticed by any passing humans or flying monsters above.

In the future, it might be a good idea to find a way to figure out whether or not a strong monster is feigning strength after a large battle…

Narrowing both her eyes as she thought about this to herself as she arrived at the entrance to the small valley at the base of the mountain, Scaly made sure to arrogantly look behind herself as a show of strength. Stopping for a few seconds without moving forward as she seemingly waited for any waiting monsters to make their move now that she had reached the base of the mountain.

Rustle~

In the end, some monsters had indeed been following her secretly, but upon seeing her strong and confident appearance, they hesitated whether or not to make a move for a short moment before slowly retreating.

"…"

Seeing this, Scaly remained silent on the spot for a few seconds longer before turning around and making her way inside the small valley. Not able to stop the slight shiver of fear from the near death experience from affecting her, as she dared not lower her guard even after finding a small safe location to recover her strength inside the small mountain valley.

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