75: Chapter 75 Don't fight with girls over items that can heal scars.

After entering the cave, Su Wan originally intended to perceive the state of the cave through [Strings of All Things] to achieve a kind of alternative "blind sense."

But she overlooked one thing: [Strings of All Things] requires intense concentration. In this crisis-ridden cave, danger comes from all directions, and she didn't understand the frequencies of the objects within the cave, making it impossible to achieve effective perception while moving.

"Sure enough... practicing in class and actual combat are two different things." Su Wan gave up on the attempt and honestly followed behind Hu Jinsi, moving forward with the help of the headlight's beam.

It seems this is another lesson that will need to be made up after leaving the dungeon.

The three of them had set off before seven in the morning, but their progress speed in the cave had not been able to improve.

Fortunately, this dungeon placed the difficulty in passage obstacles rather than designing the Underground Cave as a maze; otherwise, with this dark, slippery, and narrow environment, plus the risk of getting lost, I'm afraid the whole day would be wasted here.

Approaching eleven o'clock, they finally arrived at the large Underground Cave space where the Hydra was located.

Su Wan and Lin Rui breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. This cave was indeed a bit unpleasant for both of them—dark, slippery, and full of crises; every step was taken with trepidation.

After this trip, those pieces of equipment that can provide dark vision or significantly increase illumination range will probably be sold out again.

Hu Jinsi joked: "I don't know about others, but the first week after school starts is definitely a carnival for life-profession players. This is only the fourth stage, and the items that need to be repurchased are already piling up. If it weren't for the fact that the school teachers are all from combat professions, I would even suspect that this dungeon was hired by the school just to stimulate our consumption."

"Shh!" Su Wan quickly interrupted him, "Don't talk nonsense!"

"What do you mean by stimulating consumption?" She corrected him seriously, "It's clearly assisting life-profession classmates to develop together."

Lin Rui said: "I'm actually a bit glad now that the way this dungeon increases subsequent difficulty is by attaching templates to monsters. If, in this terrain, the added difficulty was increasing maze paths for each level, then this dungeon would really be ignored; it would be too unfriendly to everyone."

"Actually, it's not as bad as you think." Hu Jinsi said, "If there is a mage in the squad, the situation would be much better. For example, bringing Zhou Wen along and letting him maintain [Light] throughout the process would be enough."

Hu Jinsi continued: "With the current ability of our class's mage Zhou Wen, casting [Light] once can last for three hours. With [Light], we can get through this Underground Cave in three hours."

Lin Rui retorted: "It's not just a lighting problem. You are a Monk with high agility, so you might not feel it, but for Su Wan and me, every step on this ground has to be careful. It's not just the ambushing Slimes; the ground itself is just too slippery."

"After leaving the dungeon, Su Wan needs to buy a pair of spare shoes that increase friction." Lin Rui added, "It's not just this level; on the ghost ship in the next level, Su Wan's current shoes won't have enough grip, and she might not even be able to stand steady on the ship by then."

"Let's screen the shoe issue after we get out." Hu Jinsi said, "But the lighting problem is actually easy to solve. Let's buy Su Wan a [Light] skill scroll together. Su Wan's current level allows her to use 0-ring spells infinitely; it just consumes mental power. We didn't buy it before because those spells were no longer needed."

Su Wan replied: "If we are going to buy spells, then it's not just [Light], [Dancing Lights] is also very important in this dungeon."

"Buy it." Hu Jinsi waved his hand, "We'll buy it when we get out. Anyway, 0-ring spells aren't expensive; a few thousand credits will do it."

After discussing the shopping list, Lin Rui and Su Wan took advantage of this gap to complete a short rest, restoring their status to the best.

The Hydra was right before their eyes.

This Hydra might be the largest boss the squad had seen so far; just the body lying there was three times as tall as Hu Jinsi.

Its torso was as thick as a huge stone pillar, covered in dark green scales that shone with a moist luster in the faint Light.

Nine necks extended from the torso in all directions, like a strange tree that had grown nine branches. Three of the heads at the ends of the necks were significantly larger, with elemental Light flickering in their eyes: the red of fire, the blue of frost, and the purple of lightning.

"No wonder it keeps lying down." Hu Jinsi looked up at the heads that almost touched the top of the cave, "It's not that it doesn't want to stand up, it's that it can't stand up at all. The height of this cave limits its movement."

The three of them exchanged a look and quickly prepared themselves.

"Su Wan, the first half depends on you." Hu Jinsi turned his head and said, "Lin Rui and I will attract the attention of the Hydra's heads. You use the fastest speed to pour out your magic. After pouring it out, withdraw from the combat range. Don't stand in the attack area; I'm afraid that with so many heads, it might split one off to sneak attack you."

Su Wan nodded, put away her hand crossbow, and kept her wand close to her waist.

Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui looked at each other and rushed towards the Hydra's massive body, one from the left and one from the right.

Facing the Hydra's massive size, Lin Rui's volume and weight obviously couldn't knock it over, but their purpose was to distract it.

Lin Rui rushed directly under the Hydra's torso, holding a gun in one hand and a shield in the other, shooting at the Hydra's heads one by one.

The bullets hit the hard scales with a crisp "ding-ding-dang-dang" sound. Although it didn't cause much substantial damage, it was enough to alert the Hydra.

Hu Jinsi, meanwhile, used the complex terrain in the cave to repeatedly jump between the rock walls and the cave ceiling.

He was like an agile ape, his toes tapping on the protruding stalactites, his body catapulting to another rock, occasionally dropping a kick from mid-air onto the side of a head, then quickly bouncing away, attracting the pursuit of the Hydra's many heads.

Upon seeing that Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi had successfully drawn the Hydra's aggro, Su Wan began to quietly chant the incantation for [Shattering Sonic Wave] on the periphery.

Soon, the first [Shattering Sonic Wave] descended at the base of the Hydra's neck.

[-5] [-5] [-5] [-5] [-5] [-5] [-5] [-5] [-5]

Nine damage numbers popped up at the same time!

For a moment, the Hydra's torso and many heads felt the impact of the sound wave. That dull vibration spread from the base of the neck to the whole body, and every head let out a painful hiss.

This was probably the disadvantage of having too many heads. Although it allowed it to launch multiple bites, when facing area-of-effect attacks, others only need to take damage once, but the Hydra has to take it nine times.

In extreme pain, the Hydra began to search for the source of the damage. Those fire-red giant eyes scanned the cave, trying to locate the enemy hiding in the dark and casting magic.

Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui certainly couldn't give it this opportunity. The former hurriedly jumped from the top of the cave onto one of the heads, his fists raining down on the head's eyes.

He was like an annoying flea, nimbly jumping between the Hydra's heads, back and forth, attracting the attention of this giant beast.

Facing Hu Jinsi's frenzied attack, the nearby heads could only come to Block.

They didn't dare to hurt their own kind by mistake, so they couldn't use elemental breath. After all, if they spat out a fireball, they would burn their own brothers. They could only try to drive Hu Jinsi away with bites.

But Hu Jinsi's speed was too fast. Every bite was just a little bit away from touching him, instead causing the several heads to tangle together, getting more and more chaotic like knotted ropes.

While Hu Jinsi was entangled with these heads, Su Wan's second [Shattering Sonic Wave] descended on the same injured spot on the Hydra again.

Nine damage numbers popped up again. Although each damage wasn't too high—after all, [Shattering Sonic Wave] can only cause maximum damage when hitting the target's auditory parts—even damage that isn't high multiplied by nine is enough to make up for the lack of quality.

The Hydra, wounded again, was clearly enraged. It kept three heads entangled with Hu Jinsi, and the remaining heads began to search for the attacker who was casting magic.

Lin Rui knew at this moment that he should burst out. He couldn't let this monster discover Su Wan. He directly used the [MS-15 "Steel Nail" Heavy Pistol], activated the S-bullet mode, and in an instant, the ammunition turned into a dense barrage of bullets shooting towards the Hydra's neck.

[-8] [-10] [-8] [-10] [-8] [-10] [-8]

In stinging pain, the Hydra discovered that this human nearby caused higher damage, so it shifted all its targets to hunting down Lin Rui. Only one head was still searching for Su Wan's traces in the open space.

The Hydra clearly didn't know that Lin Rui's burst mode for this firearm could only safely fire three times. Lin Rui didn't dare to fire all three at once either. He needed to use this gun as a deterrent to keep the Hydra's attention firmly locked on himself.

On the other side, Hu Jinsi was repeatedly jumping forward on the Hydra's heads. He would harass the head searching for Su Wan from time to time, not letting it complete its search mission without worry.

The battle was maintained in this tug-of-war. Su Wan's [Shattering Sonic Wave] was fired two more times, still hitting the same spot. Lin Rui also fired another S-bullet, locking the Hydra's aggro firmly on himself and Hu Jinsi. The Hydra's HP was already over halfway gone.

The three heads that could use elemental damage finally stopped worrying about the safety of other heads. Fire, frost, and lightning began to appear crazily near Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui. Fireballs exploded on the rock walls, ice spikes pierced from the ground, and lightning chains crackled in the air.

During this period, in order to attract the Hydra's attention, Lin Rui handed over his last S-bullet. Then— "Click."

A crisp and short jamming sound rang in Lin Rui's ears.

Lin Rui didn't expect his luck to be so bad. It was clearly in the failure probability zone only after three shots, which meant in theory it could fire four, five, or six shots. But for him, it just happened to malfunction after exactly three shots.

But he couldn't let the Hydra discover this. He still pretended to aim at the Hydra's neck with the gun, his finger on the trigger, making a gesture of being about to pull it. It wasn't until a ball of fire forced him to dodge that he "reluctantly" gave up this "attack."

"Damn it..." Lin Rui cursed in his heart. The jammed pistol was like a piece of scrap iron at the moment, but he had to pretend it could still fire.

While using his shield to Block the Hydra's bites, he used his peripheral vision to observe Hu Jinsi's movements. As long as he held on for a little longer, waiting for Hu Jinsi's [Spinning Crane Kick] to activate, this battle could be decided.

Meanwhile, Hu Jinsi, who was playing a dangerous game of hide-and-seek on the Hydra's heads, was also silently counting the number of times Su Wan released [Shattering Sonic Wave] in his heart.

When he counted to the sixth time, he knew his highlight round had arrived.

"Now!"

Hu Jinsi exerted strength with his legs, using the reaction force of the cave wall to catapult himself to the base of the Hydra's neck, the wound position repeatedly ravaged by Su Wan's magic. After standing firm, he assumed the [Crane Form: Lonely Phoenix Style] and began to rotate at maximum speed to activate [Spinning Crane Kick]!

The Qi was like a knife, and the rotating leg wind cut back and forth between the Hydra's nine necks.

Hu Jinsi's figure turned into a blurry whirlwind, every sweep of his toes carrying sharp Qi capable of splitting scales.

The Hydra's hard scales emitted a teeth-grinding cracking sound under the continuous attacks of the "Spinning Crane Kick," with dark green scales peeling off like fallen leaves, revealing the pinkish-white muscles and blood vessels beneath.

Each rotation precisely swept across the base of every neck, further tearing the tissues that Su Wan had devastated with her magic.

Those bones cracked by the "Shattering Sonic Wave" finally could not bear the weight under the continuous kicks, emitting clicking sounds of fracture.

Three seconds later, the first neck snapped at the root; the massive head crashed onto the ground with a dull thud, splashing up a cloud of dust and blood mist.

Four and a half seconds later, the second neck also snapped; that head, which had been hissing just a moment ago, rolled to the side, the Light in its eyes rapidly fading.

Six seconds later, the third and fourth necks broke simultaneously. Half of the nine necks were now severed; the Hydra's massive body trembled violently as the remaining five heads let out shrill wails that echoed through the cave.

Realizing the battle was nearing its end, Su Wan no longer hid; she emerged from the shadows, pouring her final attacks into the Hydra with the "Magic Missile" wand in her hand. At the same time, she activated the "Bard" skill "Street Cursing," attempting to cause even the slightest interference to the Hydra.

The "Spinning Crane Kick" had been unleashed for five rounds. At this point, only the three elemental attack heads of the Hydra remained attached to its torso, while the other six had turned into severed limbs scattered on the surrounding ground.

Facing the last three remaining heads, Hu Jinsi abandoned his spinning attacks and directly launched three consecutive rounds of "Flurry of Blows," pouring out all his remaining Qi.

Fists, knees, and elbows—each strike carried the sound of tearing wind as it landed on the vital points of the Hydra's last three heads.

Finally, the massive body crashed to the ground.

The result of the battle was clearly a victory for the "Jack-of-All-Trades Squad," but Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui had sustained some injuries.

Hu Jinsi's clothes were nearly one-fifth damaged from the Hydra's final bite, but fortunately, the damage was not too severe and could be accelerated with "Spirit-Weave Self-Healing" after the battle. Lin Rui's HP had dropped below 30%, and he had some minor burns, but fortunately, it was not life-threatening.

Watching this massive creature fall under their combined assault, the three of them felt a tinge of pride.

This time, the three of them remembered to strip valuable items from the Hydra's corpse. However, Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi didn't have much stamina left; although the battle hadn't been long, its intensity had been extremely high, and both of them were now feeling weak in the limbs.

As for Su Wan, she didn't know what to do with such a massive corpse, so she had to temporarily take out a few containers from her bag and collect a few buckets of Hydra blood, hoping that Li Hao would offer a good price for it later.

"This Hydra is probably the end point for most of the students in the class this week," Hu Jinsi said. "The difficulty starts ramping up from the fourth stage."

"You're thinking in the wrong direction," Lin Rui countered. "The recommended number of people for this dungeon is five. In other words, even if we add two extra people, the dungeon difficulty won't increase. If we add two damage dealers to our current setup, whether it's this boss or any of the previous three bosses, our efficiency could double."

"The problem is that the three of us can clear it too," Hu Jinsi said, hitting the nail on the head. "If we bring in five people to play at the same difficulty, the credits that were originally split between three people would have to be split between five—wouldn't that be a bigger loss?"

Facing this question, Lin Rui was speechless.

The reason the three of them hadn't immediately invited Liu Betti and Zhou Wen to come along, besides the fact that those two wanted to play with their own close friends first, was also because the three of them were a bit uncertain about the difficulty of this dungeon.

All three of them were left somewhat confused by Teacher Fan's remark that "it can be cleared at level fourteen or fifteen."

Teacher Fan must have meant that a full five-person party at level fourteen or fifteen could successfully clear it, not like their current situation, where only Hu Jinsi was level 14, while Lin Rui and Su Wan were both level 12, and the three of them were trying to force a clear.

"We can't keep pushing through with just three people forever," Hu Jinsi said, leaning against the rock wall and panting. "If the "The Cathedral" really is ten times the size of the "Cold Plains," the three of us won't even be able to finish exploring it, let alone fight the boss. We'll definitely have to pull Liu Betti and Zhou Wen in by then."

"We can discuss the revenue split when the time comes," Lin Rui said. "Let's get the team together first and clear the dungeon; money matters can be handled flexibly."

The three of them rested briefly and began to check the loot.

After collecting the Hydra's blood, Su Wan watched as the corpse dissolved into points of Light. On the ground lay a piece of leather armor and some materials. She picked up the items and sent the stats to Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi.

Among the materials were a healing consumable and three "Hydra Poison Sacs."

"[Regenerative Snake Neck Skin Scroll] [Type: Consumable] [Rapid Regeneration: You can apply the skin scroll to your own or another creature's wound. The target restores 20 HP and removes the Poisoned status, while also repairing scars at the wound site. ] [Usage Restriction: After use, the scroll immediately withers and dies, and cannot be used a second time. ] [Item Description: This is a piece of dark, matte, ink-green snake neck skin about one foot long, with dried marks at the cross-section. You can still feel a faint trace of life force when touching it, but it no longer twitches. ]"

"--- [Hydra Poison Sac] [Type: Alchemy Material/Consumable] [Neural Poison Sac (Ink Black): Used for poisoning weapons; after a hit, the target has a chance to fall into a Paralyzed state. ] [Corrosive Poison Sac (Yellow-Green): Throwable; upon hitting an area (1.5-meter radius), it forms an acid pool that lasts for 10 seconds, dealing 6 points of acid damage to those who enter. ] [Blood-Clotting Poison Sac (Dark Red): Used for poisoning weapons; after a hit, it negates 10 points of the target's HP recovery effect. ] [Item Description: These are sac-like organs extracted from the poison glands of the Hydra's different heads. The outer skin is tough, and the interior is filled with viscous venom. The colors of the poison sacs from different heads vary slightly, but they all emit a pungent, fishy-sweet odor. ]"

There was exactly one of each of the three poison sacs. The three team members didn't have much need for the poison sacs, so they just shoved them into the corner of their backpacks along with other miscellaneous items; they would sell them if they could after returning to school, or keep them for their own use if they couldn't.

As for the "Regenerative Snake Neck Skin Scroll," Lin Rui and Hu Jinsi hadn't even seen it in person before Su Wan stuffed it into her own backpack. Clearly, this kind of consumable that could remove scars was more valuable than gold in the eyes of a girl.

It was estimated that this poor Hydra would be hunted frantically by the high school girls of Wei City for some time to come. Hu Jinsi couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the tragic fate that awaited this Hydra.

As for the leather armor, the stats were as follows: [Hydra Scale Vest] [Type: Magic Equipment/Light Armor] [Defense Bonus: +3] [Thick Scale Protection: The wearer has resistance to poison damage (damage halved, effective for levels 20 and under). ] [Item Description: This vest is tanned and stitched from the thick scales of the Hydra's neck. The scales are dark green, feel cold to the touch, and carry the fishy scent of an aquatic animal. It is tougher than ordinary leather armor, yet similar in weight. ]

Looking at its stats, this armor only had the additional effect of halving poison damage compared to standard white-tier equipment, and its Defense Bonus was even lower than some white-tier Light armor.

But Hu Jinsi knew that this piece of equipment might have miraculous effects when fighting Andariel.

"Think about what Teacher Fan said: to deal with Andariel, you need to prepare full-body poison resistance gear," he reminded them. "And right now, there is almost no gear on the market specifically for poison damage."

"Although this [Hydra Scale Vest] only has a +3 Defense Bonus, its [Thick Scale Protection] can halve poison damage and is effective for levels 20 and under, which completely covers the level range for when we challenge Andariel. By the end of the semester, when everyone starts seriously preparing for "The Cathedral," the price of this kind of gear will at least triple."

"So, there's no need to sell this gear in a rush," Hu Jinsi concluded. "Su Wan, you wear it for now; anyway, you don't have any suitable Light armor to resist poison damage currently. When the time comes that we can take on Andariel, we can sell this gear to other students at a high price, which will maximize our profit."

"Are you sure it will still sell by then?" Su Wan hesitated.

"Definitely," Hu Jinsi said confidently. "Andariel is the final boss of "The Cathedral," and every team that wants to clear that dungeon will need poison resistance gear. Scarcity makes things valuable, so this vest will be a hot commodity by then."

After hearing Hu Jinsi's explanation, Lin Rui also advised Su Wan to put the Light armor away for now as a backup.

At this point, the three team members didn't plan to head to the next stage immediately; it was nearing noon, and having set out at six in the morning, it was time to prepare lunch.

The information clearly stated: the fifth stage was on a ghost ship. The three of them obviously didn't think they would be able to eat comfortably on a ghost ship. Although they had camped at night in the eerie and terrifying environment of the "Burial Grounds" before, if they had a choice, it was still most appropriate to finish their lunch securely in this cave that no longer had any enemies.

Lunch was very simple: pre-prepared bread, ham, and pickled mustard greens, paired with fresh water.

The three of them didn't want to spend too much time and energy on lunch; there were two more stages left to finish this dungeon, and it looked like they still had nearly 48 hours left.

But considering that the combat scenario for the next stage was a ghost ship, and none of the team members had experience fighting on the sea, they had already prepared for the worst: they might have to spend the night on the ghost ship today, and the boss would likely have to be left for tomorrow.

"A ghost ship..." Lin Rui said, chewing on his bread and frowning. "The data says the fifth stage's setting is on an abandoned ship stranded on some reefs. In other words, the ship itself won't move, but it's at least by the sea. The sea breeze, the humidity, and that unique salty, fishy smell of seawater—we'll need to adapt to all of that."

"And the space on the ship is narrow; my combat style might not be able to fully unfold," he continued to analyze. "Stairs, corridors, cabins—this kind of terrain places great restrictions on my fighting style."

"Su Wan's hand crossbow and chanting would actually have an advantage in that environment," Hu Jinsi said. "Ranged attacks are not restricted by terrain."

"I hope that ship doesn't rock too violently," Su Wan said, taking a bite of her bread, her face turning slightly pale. "I'm afraid I might get seasick."

"...Why didn't you say so earlier?" Hu Jinsi's eyes widened.

"I just remembered it too. The last time I was on a boat was when I was a child, and I only remember getting seasick that one time."

"It seems that besides "Light" and Dancing Lights, I'll have to buy you some seasickness medicine," Hu Jinsi shook his head helplessly. "Alright, stop thinking about it. Eat your fill first, and we'll deal with it when we get there. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it—we've already taken down a Hydra, are we really going to be afraid of a broken ship?"

The three of them smiled and continued eating this simple yet hard-won lunch.