Chapter 87: The Approaching Crisis, Part One

At this point, the hydra had grown to about ten meters in length, its immense body towering several times over Kong Zhe. Though still not quite as large as its mother, it was nearly there. Standing before it, Kong Zhe looked no larger than a speck.

Yet although its body had grown, its mind remained at the level of a newborn. It was blinking its green eyes now, staring at Kong Zhe with childlike curiosity.

Because it had already been tamed, there was not a trace of killing intent in those crystal-clear eyes; instead, they held a faint eagerness to please. Then, as though seeking praise, it lowered its head and rubbed gently against Kong Zhe.

Looking into those bright green eyes and feeling the information flowing back from its body, Kong Zhe was overwhelmed with delight. The hydra had actually reached level ten. That was far better than he had dared hope.

He stroked its nose, then began to inspect its attributes.

Young Hydra.

Level: 10.

Health: 3000.

Health regeneration: 10 per second.

Mana: 0.

Attack: 70 to 100.

Movement speed: 50.

Skills.

Royal Pressure: The hydra naturally exudes the aura of a sea clan sovereign, preventing magical beasts more than five levels below it from approaching.

Slow Poison: The hydra's attacks are laced with a deadly toxin. Those poisoned lose 4 health per second for 5 seconds, movement speed reduced by 50, attack speed reduced by 25.

Kong Zhe stared at its attributes, speechless. This was called young? It was almost laughable, and yet he could not help cursing inwardly at how monstrous it was.

As expected of a king-class magical beast. At only level ten, it already had three thousand health!

Add to that a regeneration rate of ten health per second, and it was practically a walking fortress of flesh and blood. Kong Zhe was deeply relieved; fortunately, he had relied mainly on the tentacles for output just now, or else killing the hydra would have been far more difficult.

And this one was still only in its juvenile stage. One could easily imagine that the hydra he had just fought had even greater health and regeneration. With Kong Zhe's current attack power and attack speed, even if the hydra stood still and let him cut at it, three thousand health would still take nearly five minutes to grind through.

And how much health could the other side recover in five minutes? Ten per second meant three thousand in five minutes... Which meant that just as Kong Zhe emptied its health bar, natural recovery would fill it back up again...

Running his hand over the hydra's smooth skin, Kong Zhe let out a breath, feeling a touch of envy for its attributes. But that envy was quickly swept away by delight. No matter what, the hydra was now his pet, and naturally the stronger it was, the better.

Its two skills, poison attack and innate pressure, were both highly practical. In particular, the second skill, Royal Pressure, could keep weaker beasts from approaching.

This was precisely why Kong Zhe and the others had not encountered any other magical beasts within several miles before. Now, with this hydra in their midst, the rest of their journey would be utterly safe. They would no longer need Xue Feifei to send out a robot to scout the way before moving forward with caution. They could even swagger straight through a pack of magical beasts, and those ordinary creatures would not dare attack them at all. Attack them? They would probably flee the moment they laid eyes on the hydra.

The hydra had no mana; both of its skills were passive. Of course, if such a formidable creature also possessed magic, that would be far too unbalanced.

If there was any single flaw, it was its movement speed.

Speed, like luck, was also a hidden attribute. However, it was easy to measure. The simplest method was to gauge movement speed by the time it took to run one hundred meters.

And unlike luck, which was difficult to improve, movement speed was clearly affected by agility. In general, awakeners with higher agility were faster. Only those born with speed beyond the ordinary could break that rule.

Kong Zhe's agility had already reached 31 points. By calculation, his movement speed was around 150.

By comparison, the hydra's movement speed of 50 was extremely slow even among magical beasts. Kong Zhe could probably kite it to death with ease; it would not be able to land a single hit on him.

In terms of speed, this hydra had clearly not inherited its mother’s gifts. Kong Zhe remembered all too well how the previous hydra had chased him from behind, dragging its grievously wounded body and still keeping pace with his maximum speed. That alone showed how swift it truly was.

Though it had this one shortcoming, in every other respect this hydra was undoubtedly the ideal pet. At least for a long time, Kong Zhe would not need to worry that his pet's level would fall behind his own and slow his progression.

Stroking its smooth scales, Kong Zhe's eyes rarely showed a hint of affection.

"Since you're a hydra, I'll call you Little Nine."

Kong Zhe had never cared much about pet names. Just like the kobold shaman before, he had never given it a real name and simply called it Little Dog.

"Hiss..."

The hydra tilted its huge head and looked at Kong Zhe with a dazed expression. Clearly, with its intelligence, it could not understand the merits of a name. And so the name of this enormous creature was decided with such ease.

Not far from the hydra, where the great hydra had died earlier, the giant serpent's body had already been devoured clean. Yet there were clearly still parts of it that the little hydra could not digest. On the ground lay a dark, lump-like object, its surface glinting with a blue sheen.

Kong Zhe walked over and picked it up for a closer look.

Snake King Jade: A precious medicinal material produced by the hydra, containing the energy of its formidable body. Usable only by alchemists, or can be sold to a shopkeeper for a large amount of gold.

Kong Zhe examined it carefully from all sides. Though it looked like a dark, sooty lump, it was actually the skin from the hydra's back.

A hydra's body contained many extremely valuable magical materials, such as snake skin, gallbladder, poison glands, and more. A very small number of hydras had especially developed poison glands and could even form the rare Sphere of Venom. This thing could be said to be priceless to all assassin-type professions.

Unfortunately, most of the previous hydra's body had been devoured by the little hydra, and the only thing left was what lay before Kong Zhe now.

The hydra's back was the most heavily protected part of its body, so the toughness of this skin was self-evident. Even the little hydra was unable to swallow it.

What was a pity, however, was that although it was a blue-grade material, its property was that of a medicinal ingredient, and only alchemists could use it.

Kong Zhe had originally intended to use the materials dropped by the hydra to enchant his Apocalypse Sword once more. But it now seemed that plan had come to nothing. He could not use this item, so he could only store it away and see whether he might sell it later.

After putting the snake jade into his inventory, Kong Zhe took out the bronze treasure chest he had obtained earlier. He had been too occupied with Little Lei's odd condition and the matter of the little hydra to open it before, but now that he had the time, he could hardly contain himself. He wanted very much to see what it would yield.

Ding.

As Kong Zhe opened the chest, a deep blue piece of armor sprang out.

He hurriedly caught it and took a look.

Frost Breastplate: Wraps the wearer in a layer of protective frost armor, reducing all damage by ten percent and slowing the attack speed of enemies who engage in melee for three seconds.

This blue-and-white breastplate was covered in exquisite patterns, and a faint chill drifted from its surface. At a glance, it was clearly a pure ice-attribute piece of equipment. In this world of ice and snow, even looking at it made one instinctively feel cold. But Kong Zhe had no time to care about that. He immediately replaced his old white breastplate and put this one on.

Though the item did not add to his attributes, both its damage reduction and slowing effect were highly practical. In particular, its damage reduction applied to all forms of damage, unlike ordinary armor, which usually reduced only physical damage. Even among blue-grade equipment, this breastplate was undoubtedly above average.

Moreover, though it looked cold, once Kong Zhe equipped it, he did not feel the slightest discomfort. On the contrary, he felt a trace of warmth. Clearly, the chill on its surface was outward-facing and carried no negative effect for the wearer.

Once this light armor was on, a faint blue halo appeared around his body, making him look extraordinarily sharp.

Kong Zhe could not help nodding, the more he looked the more satisfied he became.

At this point, he was already equipped with a full set of magical gear. Though most of it was white, it was still magical equipment after all, and in such a getup he looked quite formidable, gradually acquiring the bearing of a high-level awakener.

After taking stock of the spoils, matters here could be considered concluded. Kong Zhe walked back to the three women chatting in the distance.

"Get ready. We're moving out soon..."

...

Red Ling pressed the red stop button and stepped down from the treadmill, taking the towel hanging around her neck to wipe the sweat from her face. Feeling the power surging through her body, a flicker of joy rose on her features.

"It seems I've grown a little stronger again. At this rate, I may even be able to awaken successfully before tomorrow..."

Curling her fingers into a fist, Red Ling nodded in satisfaction. She walked to the refrigerator, took out a can of cola, opened it, and drank deeply. At once, she felt much of the heat from her exercise subside.

It had been two days since Kong Zhe and the others left, and Red Ling had not been idle in that time. She had found treadmills and other fitness equipment in several unoccupied rooms downstairs, and every day she persisted in training.

She did not know whether it would work, but at the very least it made her feel fulfilled, much better than the decadent, indulgent life she had lived before. Though it was somewhat late to begin training now, as long as it could improve her combat ability, even by a little, Red Ling would do it without hesitation.