Chapter 90: Internal Struggle

As the people in charge of watching over the different guardian barriers inside the Howling Caverns and ensure that everything was working probably began panicking at the sudden activation of one of these guardian barriers, Scaly slowly woke up after a few short hours of rest inside the former home of a rather delicious squirrel.Even though this was still far from enough for her to fully recover her strength after the injuries she received during her escape, it was more than enough for her to start hunting some weaker monster like the big forest rabbits and gnolls.

Of course, she was still unsure if there were any gnolls around inside the forest as she hadn’t encountered any since she found herself on top of the ancient dire wolf mountain.


Big forest rabbits on the other hand were abundant inside the forest, as she had seen quite a few of them during her escape. Not just forest rabbits, she had also seen quite a few humans who didn’t seem to be aware of what was happening back in the town and were busy hunting down the different monsters in the forest. Most often targeting big forest rabbits that seemed to be the most abundant monster inside the forest.

Rustle~

Poking her head out through the hole in the tree that served as the entrance to the squirrel home that she had made her own, Scaly scanned her surroundings for any monsters.

Given that she hadn’t really been that focused on her surroundings back when she had been searching for something to eat and a place to sleep, she hadn’t realized that the tree that she had been sleeping inside of was actually at the edge of a ravine... And looking closer, the part she had been sleeping inside of was hanging directly above the ravine in question. Creaking as if it was about to break off the side of the ravine and plummet into it under her weight.

This... If I dragged any night snack back before going to sleep, wouldn’t this thing have broken off!?

Feeling a sense of fear as she thought this to herself while carefully making her way out the tree before jumping on to the edge of the ravine, Scaly could not help silently wondering how she had even managed to climb inside the tree without noticing its precarious location earlier.

Then again, she didn’t really think about much back then and just thought about getting something delicious to eat and finding a place where she could peacefully recover some of her strength.

Squeak~?

Peeking over the edge of the ravine out of curiosity to try and see what might be down there, Scaly was surprised to see a big forest rabbit staring straight back up at her with a similarly surprised expression on its face.

[Big Forest Rabbit, lvl 21]

[Big Forest Rabbit, lvl 32]

[Big Forest Rabbit, lvl 25]

[Big Forest R...]

No, it wasn’t just a single big forest rabbit, but an entire army of big forest rabbits moving around inside the ravine.

Wait... They aren’t just moving around randomly; they seem to be eating something...

Continuing to observe the big forest rabbits in the ravine below, Scaly noticed that most of them seemed to have gathered towards a corner of the ravine where they seemed to be in the process of eating some kind of animal. Covering their fur in blood as they ferociously bit into the monster that should be hidden beneath.

No, it isn’t a monster, but... A human!

Realizing that thing that the big forest rabbits were eating wasn’t a monster, but instead a human, Scaly could not help widening her eyes in surprise. Not having expected the big forest rabbits to be bold enough to eat a human so close to the human town.

Weren’t they scared that the humans would come after them if they were discovered?

But... I wonder what humans taste-

[It’s not recommended to eat humans, as they are considered a sentient species. Outside of that, they do not taste good due to their constant intake of different poisonous substances they consume in an attempt to make their food taste better.]

Not even having time to finish her train of thought regarding how good humans might taste, a description box appeared in front of her. Warning her not to eat humans.

But... Humans consume poison to make food taste better? I wonder what kind of poison it is and if I can get some of it too... After all, for humans to willingly consume it, it should make food reeaaaallllyyyy good!

Even then, Scaly was far more focused on the poison making food taste better mentioned in the description box floating in front of her.

Part of her even began to wonder if she could find the poison described by the description box back in the human town that she had just escaped from. Even considering returning to the town again to see if she could find the poison in question.

Having delicious food was simply far too important and the thinking part of her brain was thrown completely out the window.

[... The poison will stop the evolution process and prevent you from ever becoming a dragon.]

However, before she could act and do something stupid for the sole purpose of making the monsters she ate on a daily basis taste even better, the description box in front of her updated and added a new line of text at the bottom of it.

Wha...! W-what kind of devilish concoction did the humans use to enhance the taste of their food!? To discriminate against aspiring dragons like herself! But... If it’s delicious enough...

Caught in an internal struggle at the sudden discriminatory nature of the delicious poison, Scaly frowned visibly as she weighed the pros and cons.

On one side, she could get even more delicious food, but on the other side, she would no longer be able to evolve into a dragon in the future. Essentially cutting off the path she had set out on and worked towards so far.

Hm? But it just says that eating the poison will prevent me from becoming a dragon... Doesn’t this mean I will be able to eat the poison after I become a dragon!?

Suddenly realizing this as she looked through the description box still floating in the air in front of her, Scaly instantly came to a decision.

Considering that she would be able to eat the delicious poison of the humans after she became a dragon, she would just have to become a dragon before trying any of the delicious poison that made things more delicious!

Although it would take some time before she could try it out, it only made her more excited about increasing her strength and going through her next evolution.

With this in mind, Scaly’s attention drifted away from the description box that slowly dissipated into thin air before focusing on the big forest rabbits in the ravine below.

Although most of them were around level 20, there were still quite a few of them that had reached level 30 and presented a threat to her.

For now, I should start with those big forest rabbits below...

Even then, Scaly still ended up deciding on the big forest rabbits as her target. Not just because they would give her a large amount of experience, but more importantly because most of them seemed preoccupied with eating the already dead human. Giving her a perfect opportunity to launch an ambush on the group of big forest rabbits from above.

The only real problem among these big forest rabbits being the one who had noticed her when she poked her head over the edge of the ravine.

Out of all the forest rabbits, it seemed like it was the only one that had noticed her, and it was currently keeping an eye on her from below.

In case she tried something, it would definitely alert the rest of the big forest rabbits. Giving them time to prepare for a counterattack. Ruining any possibility of her launching a sneak attack on the group.

The only saving grace in her sneak attack plan was the fact that the big forest rabbit observing her didn’t seem to perceive her as a threat and should think of her as some of the small lizard she had seen scuttling across the forest floor every now and then.

I just need to act like a harmless forest lizard curious about what is happening~

Thinking this to herself, Scaly decided to slowly crawl down into the ravine by using the countless crevices on the side as a stairway. Making sure to look like nothing more than a curious lizard trying to get a bit closer to inspect what was happening below.

Squeak?

Luckily, the big forest rabbit didn’t seem to find this odd, as it just curiously tilted its head while watching her slowly crawling down the side of the ravine. Getting closer to the large group of big forest rabbits eagerly consuming the dead human.