Chapter 45: Gnolls

Walking around the destroyed encampment with a curious expression on her face as she observed the different dead gnolls in an attempt to figure out what direction the monster behind the destruction of the encampment might have gone, Scaly ended up stumbling on a rather strange looking gnoll that stood out from the rest of the dead gnolls.[Forest Gnoll Tribal Shaman, lvl 37 (dead)]

[Description: A Gnoll Tribal Shaman that can draw on the primal spirit of the land itself for their magic. In addition to being a leading figure among gnolls and a skilled healer, they are often known for their ability of divination and are the main figures in charge of certain carrying on certain traditions among their people. Only a gnoll tribe with a shaman in it is considered intelligent enough to trade with, while at the same time feared even by humans.]

However, after inspecting the dead gnoll in question, Scaly could not help feeling a shiver run down her spine. The gnoll shaman was stronger than the humans she had seen fighting with the rocky mountain lion not too long ago!

Not just that, but she also realized that the monster behind the destruction of the encampment that she found herself inside of at the moment might not be something that she could deal with at the moment.

Maybe I should try and find more of these gnolls instead of searching for the monster behind this...

Thinking this to herself as she found more gnolls of similar strength level to the gnoll shaman, Scaly decided to focus her attention on finding more of the gnolls to increase her strength before trying to find the monster behind the destruction of the encampment.

Even if she wasn’t confident in dealing with the monster behind it for now, she was certain that she would be able to do so after a few days of hunting. Especially if she could find another encampment of the gnolls that hadn’t been destroyed.

After all, even if some of the gnolls were strong enough to make her think twice about attacking them, most of them were not that strong and were more than enough for her to hunt down.

Rustle~!

Growl-!

About to head out in search of gnolls to hunt down, a distinctive sound of something large moving through the thick foliage of the forest echoed out behind her followed by a growling sound not much different from the sound she had heard from some of the rocky mountain lions she had seen fighting with humans during her travel to the forest-

Swish~!

And knowing very well how strong these rocky mountain lions from what she had seen when they fought with the humans, Scaly wasted no time in dashing towards a nearby bush to hide herself. Intending to first gauge the situation and make sure that the sound didn’t come from whatever monster was behind the destruction of the encampment before thinking about hunting the monster behind the growling sound.

[Forest Gnoll, Warrior, lvl 17]

[Forest Gnoll, Scout, lvl 13]

[Forest Gnoll, Trapper, lvl 19]

[Forest Gnoll, Wari...

Huh? Gnolls?

However, instead of a large powerful rocky mountain lion that she had expected to see after hearing the growling sounds, a group of five gnolls appeared from the foliage not too far away from the bush she was currently hiding inside of. Each of them stood more than two meters tall with powerful physiques, as they examined the destroyed encampment while making weird growling noises to each other.

Just what I was looking for!


Feeling both her eyes starting to shine as she saw the group of gnolls, Scaly’s earlier cation was instantly replaced by excitement as she had effortlessly managed to find the monsters, she had been planning to hunt down in the foreseeable future to increase her strength.

But... Do I kill them now, or do I follow them back to the tribe they are from? If I do follow them, I might be able to save a lot of time searching for more of them by myself...

But even though she was happy about this sudden development, she was also trouble about whether or not to just outright kill them or follow them back to the place they had come from.

Growl-!

As Scaly was feeling troubled over whether or not to attack the gnolls or follow them to find more gnolls to hunt, one of the gnolls in the group seemed to have noticed something as he began growling in the direction of the bush that she was hiding inside of.

Growl!

Grrrr~!

Not even a second after the first made a growling sound in the direction of the place where she was hiding, the rest of the gnolls similarly turned to look in the direction of where she was hiding as they began to threateningly growl in her direction while drawing their rusty and chipped weapons in preparation for battle.

Huh? They... They found me? But how? Is it... The nose? They have a good sense of smell because of their race? Is that how they noticed me?

Realizing that she had been noticed, Scaly could not help tilting her head in confusion. Trying to figure out how she had been found. In the end focusing on their rather large noses.

Indeed, with such a nose, it should be a given that they might have picked up her smell given that she had just been wandering around the destroyed encampment a few seconds earlier...

Oh well... Looks like I won’t be able to follow them back to the place they came from...

Narrowing both her eyes as she thought this to herself while looking at the group of gnolls who had begun to cautiously approach the bush she was hiding inside of, Scaly could not help smiling to herself at the sight.

Following them would indeed be a rather boring endeavor, killing them was far more to her liking!

Especially considering it had been quite some time since her last real battle since she had arrived at the Third Floor of the Dungeon.