Chapter 596: Parting

While the two made their way towards the main city of the northern region, Scaly found herself examining the approved monster emblem that had been given to her by Verdell- or rather, she was examining her status, as while the emblem itself was physical, it had essentially melted away the second Verdell handed it to her.

The reason why she was looking at her status wasn’t just to admire the fact that she had finally managed to reach the limit of her current evolution, but also because something new had appeared inside her status after that emblem had melted away...

Name: Scaly

Race: Dreamscale Dragon (2nd Stage)

Dragon blood: 47% (Rare)

Level: 50/50 (Evolution Possible)

Unique Identity: Approved Monster (Adventurers Guild)

Mana Heart: Third Circle

STR: 2077 |VIT: 4172| DEX: 2379| M: 7772

Magic: [Dragon Water Magic, lvl 9], [Ice Magic lvl 6], [Wind Magic, lvl 9], [Lightning Magic, lvl 5], [Dream Magic lvl 5]

Skills: [Dragon Bloodline, lvl 4], [Dragon Flight, lvl 8], [Poison/Venom Resistance, lvl 8], [Dragon Claw Strike, lvl 9], [Dragon Breath (Water), lvl 6], [Corrosion Resistance, lvl 4], [Pain Resistance, lvl 6], [Swimming, lvl 6], [Dragon Heart, lvl 1], [Endless Vitality, lvl 2], [Agility, lvl 1], [Brute Force, lvl 1], [Fear Resistance, lvl 1], [Mana Consumption, lvl 3], [Mana Circulation, lvl 4], [Cold Resistance, lvl 3]

Looking at the state of her status and spotting the new unique identity section that had emerged, outside the mild disappointment from seeing her skills and magic still stuck at the same levels as before, she couldn’t stop herself from inspecting the new identity section that had appeared much like how she tended to inspect her magic and skills.

[Unique Identity]: An identity recognized throughout the world or designated by a major faction.

Reading through the description of this new section that had emerged, it was somewhat what she had expected, as she instead turned her attention towards the unique identity she had obtained thanks to the approved monster emblem.

[Approved Monster (Adventurers Guild)]: A monster approved as safe by the Adventurers Guild. Granted access throughout the guild’s territories, dungeons and certain unique locations under guild control. Attacks against approved monsters are forbidden by the guild.

For more information on specifics, refer to § 1.0.1 of Conduct with Approved Monsters or §§ 1.3.1-1.3.7 of Conduct with Approved Monsters. In the case of actions in the situation of an Approved Monster turning hostile... In case of an attack refer to § 2.0.3 of... Regarding feeding of lone Approved Monsters, § 17.4.12 states that...]

Stooop! Brain huuurts! Go aaaawwaay!

Faced with what started looking like an endless legal document that showed no sign of ending and directly blinded her as the wall of text that was the description essentially took up her entire vision before she quickly pulled that dreadful wall of text down.

Vowing to herself to never ever try and inspect her unique identity ever again unless her life depended on it.

No matter how curious she was about her identity in the eyes of the guild, there was no way she would sit down and read through all that mumbo jumbo that she could barely even understand to begin with...

The only important thing she managed to pick up from that wall of text was the fact that it did indeed seem to be true that adventurers couldn’t attack her on sight like what she had gone through in the past.

As for how these adventurers were able to tell she was an approved monster? She had no idea, but she knew the reason was undoubtedly buried somewhere within the wall of text, she just didn’t have the willpower to look through that dreadful wall of text and try to find that piece of information.

In fact, this wall of text made her realize that the guild she had originally just seen as a gathering of powerful people was far more complicated than she had originally thought.

After all, for someone to be able to craft an identity with such a large wall of text as its description made it clear that the guild had someone around entirely dedicated to writing out everything she saw in the seemingly endless wall of text.

Not just writing it out, but also understanding it...

"Look, the city! We are finally here!" And as she was about to sink into her own thoughts pondering over what kind of people would willingly put themselves through something like that, Verdell called out in an exited voice from her back, causing her head to clear in an instant before her gaze travelled along the direction Verdell was pointing. Soon enough, spotting the city he mentioned.

In the distance, a towering wall situated between two smaller mountains emerged together with countless buildings and other structures lined up the side of the mountain protected against the icy winds.

The city itself had been constructed between these two smaller mountains as the towering wall situated at the mouth of the two mountains continued upwards along the sides of the mountain. Ensuring no monster would be able to bypass the towering walls by simply running up the side of the mountain.

In fact, to make traversing up the mountains even harder, countless pits and other defensive measures had been placed around the mountains. Ensuring that no monster attempting to climb the side of the mountain would ever get close to those mountain walls.

From this simple view, it was clear that this city was different from the city she and Verdell had saved not that long ago, as it was built like a fortress designed to withstand constant waves of attacks. Not at all like the city from earlier that looked like a normal city from a glance with only a bit higher walls and stronger magical barrier protecting it. Nothing like the countless layers of defense that the city in front of them had so clearly visible.

A glance was all that was needed to see why this city was considered the main city of the northern region, as outside of its impressive defense, it was also huge. At least ten times the size of the previous city.

Along with that, she could also very clearly feel the terrifying fluctuations of someone surpassing the SS Rank, as the other party was deliberately releasing their own mana signature to intimidate the surrounding monsters... And to be honest, it worked well not just on the monsters, but also her, as she felt a shiver run down her spine the second she got close enough to sense that terrifying presence.

Indeed, it is worthy of being the main city of the northern region. If possible, I should do my best to stay far away from this place in the future...

Silently nodding her head as she already decided to stay as far away from this place as possible in the future, Scaly slowly came to a stop before getting any closer to the city.

Deciding thanks to the terrifying presence inside the city that it would be best for her to part ways with Verdell here, as entering a city with such a powerful person around wasn’t something she wanted to do.

No matter how legitimate her identity as an approved monster was, she didn’t plan to risk her life entering the domain of such a powerful being.

"Huh? It’s time already..." Sensing what Scaly’s intentions were, Verdell slowly sighed to himself as he jumped off her back and silently stared up at her with a look of sadness on his face.

Although he knew this time would come, he couldn’t help feeling sad. After all, who wouldn’t want to have a dragon companion to ride around on? Especially one as powerful as Scaly who had allowed him to make years of progress during the short time they had spent together. Even if it had also meant he ended up hanging by a thread with his life on the line the entire time.

In the end, though he wanted to say more, he couldn’t find any words. Instead, just standing there silently waiting for Scaly to set off.

"..."

But as time went on with neither side moving, Verdell came to the realization that both had the same idea...

"Okay, okay, I will be the one walking into the distance all dramatically..." Grumbling somewhat reluctantly as he realized the dragon had no intention of being the one walking away first, Verdell could only roll his eyes as he took on the burden of walking away first-

"Huh?"

Thud~

But as he turned around, he unknowingly ended up tripping over his own feet. Falling headfirst into the snow. Earning what felt to him felt like a silent laughter from the dragon behind him. "Curse this damned snow..." Letting out a quiet grumble as he quickly got back up on his feet again and almost ran towards the city in the distance. Not wanting another accident to happen while that damnable dragon watched him-

Thud~

A fate that was bound to go unfulfilled, as stone hidden under the snow tripped him only a few steps after he had gotten back up on his feet...