Chapter 80: Underground River Tunnels

Going back in time to the point that Scaly jumped into the hole in the middle of the alleyway to escape from the humans chasing after her, she found herself landing on a few mossy stone bricks that seemed to have deteriorated to the point that it was falling apart.Looking around herself to make sure it wasn’t a dead end that she had ended up jumping into, Scaly was relieved to discover that she was inside a rather large underground tunnel connected to three other underground tunnels. All made out of stone bricks that seemed to have deteriorated enough for her to worry about the ceiling of the tunnel suddenly caving in on her.

Not just that, but she also discovered that there seemed to be some kind of river running through the strange stone brick tunnels, taking up most of the space inside of them, while only leaving behind a small space for walking.

Is it perhaps some kind of underground river system? But why would those humans create an underground river system? Not to mention... Why does it smell so bad...?

Feeling puzzled over the purpose behind these underground rivers and the fact that there was a disgusting smell coming from, Scaly wanted nothing more than turn around and make it back up to the surface again-

Rumble~!

But the sound of the stone wall collapsing above her prevented her from doing so, as she heard the sound of countless humans swarming into the alleyway that she had been in only a few seconds earlier.

Looks like I will have to stay in this smelly place until I find another place to hide...

Feeling quite reluctant to stay in the strange underground river tunnels that had a horrid stench everywhere inside of them, Scaly ultimately chose one of the three connecting tunnels before rushing away from the entrance that she had entered through. After all, the humans above would soon notice the hole in the ground and enter to search for her.

Like this, Scaly continued to run through the stinky tunnels beneath the human city. Only having a few oversized rats that seemed to live down there to eat, while she searched for a way back to the surface for hours.

Heading back towards the entrance that she had entered the underground river tunnels through was something she wanted to do. Unfortunately, given the fact that she hadn’t remembered the path she had run in and the fact that everything looked the same, she couldn’t remember the path back to the hole that she had entered the underground river tunnels through.

Worse yet, as time continued to pass, she also began to grow thirsty with nothing outside of the stinky river next to her.

At first, she hadn’t thought this would be a problem, as she could always just use her water magic to create water for drinking, but she discovered that there was some kind of strange miasma drifting off from the stinky river that prevented her from using her magic. Leaving her with no ability to use her water magic to get something to drink.

If things continued, she would be forced to drink from the stinky river, something she was almost certain that her level 2 poison resistance wouldn’t be able to cope with considering the miasma drifting off it completely nullifying her magic...

Ching~ Ching~ Ching~

Just as she was feeling troubled over the lack of water, the sound of something like metal hitting rocks in a repeated motion, echoed throughout the underground river tunnel. Not just that, but there was a bright light up ahead.

A path out!?

Not even thinking about the possible danger, Scaly didn’t waste a second as she rushed towards the source of the light that the sound was coming from. Wanting nothing more than to leave the underground river system that she had now spent hours wandering around inside of aimlessly...

"How long until the next team arrives? I can’t wait to get out of this place!"

"Don’t worry, they were delayed because of a search called on by the branch leader and will be here soon."

"A search organized by the branch leader!? Did someone go missing or is there a powerful monster like that ancient dire wolf approaching the town?"

"No, a monster managed to enter the town."

"A monster!? How in the world did that get into the town."

"Don’t worry too much, it’s only a lizard type monster and shouldn’t be that strong. At most a bit stronger than the oversized rats roaming around this godforsaken place."

As she arrived at the periphery of the light, Scaly happened to overhear the conversation between two humans who were moving along the edge of the smelly river that had been lit up by rows of magical torches that seemed to burn by absorbing the miasma from the river.

At the same time, she also managed to catch a glimpse of the origin of the sound, which was around a dozen or so humans who were working to build a new tunnel for the smelly river.

[Human, Miner, lvl 21]

[Human, Skilled Digger, lvl 13]

[Human, Miner...]

Inspecting the large number of humans who seemed busy digging the new tunnel, Scaly was tempted to kill all of them and follow the light back to the surface-

[Human, Expert Miner, lvl 32]

[Human, Chief Miner, lvl 41]

However, this thought came to a stop when she noticed the strength of the two humans who were chatting with each other while walking alongside the smelly river.

Not to mention the fact that it would be difficult for her to deal with them under normal circumstances, there was also the fact that she currently couldn’t use her magic. Making it close to impossible for her to kill all of the humans present.

Killing a few and then escaping wasn’t really an option she considered either, as it would likely cause the humans in the town above to descend into the underground river tunnels to search for her in large numbers.

Outside of that, there was also the fact that doing so would force her to stay underground for longer and in turn make drinking the smelly water her only way to avoid dehydration.

In the end, she fought back her killing intent and decided to silently wait for the two strong humans to join the rest of the humans as they worked towards carving out a new tunnel. Taking the opportunity while no one was paying attention to slip past them and follow the lit-up path towards what she assumed to be a way out of the underground river tunnels.

Luckily, it didn’t take long before the light from the magic torches was replaced with the bright light from the sun in the sky above the third floor of the dungeon.

Hm? Isn’t it supposed to be night now? Wait...

Suddenly realizing something was wrong, as it should have been night at this point in time, Scaly suddenly remembered something.

There is no night...!

Feeling a sense of despair as she remembered the fact that there was no night on the third floor of the dungeon, Scaly had no idea what to do, as her early plan of sneaking out of the human city with the cover of the night seemed to shatter in front of her. Leaving her with no idea how to safely leave the human city without the cover of the dark.

No! I have to first get out of here, I can think of a way to leave the human town unnoticed later!

Shaking her head as she focused back on the task at hand, Scaly soon began to cautiously approach the opening before making her way up the ladder that was connected to the opening with far more difficulty than she had expected. Soon poking her head up through the hole to survey her surroundings and make sure there weren’t any humans around.

[Human, Vendor, lvl 7]


[Human, Fire Mage, lvl 35]

[Human, Thief...]

Unfortunately, there were quite a lot of humans around, both strong and weak. The only saving grace was the fact that the hole she was in was blocked off by a simple barrier and a human who seemed to be stopping anyone about to get close to the hole, while the hole itself was located right next to a narrow passage between a row of buildings.

Hm... It seems the guard human is busy talking with someone, this should be a chance for me to slip away!

Whoosh~

Seeing that the human guarding the hole was occupied chatting with another human with his back to her, Scaly rushed out with all her strength in the direction of the narrow passage without any humans in it.

"Hm? Did something pass by?"

"I’m sure its nothing. Probably the smell of that place getting to you."

"Haha, indeed, it probably is."

In the end, no one spotted her as she managed to safely slip into the narrow passage undetected.