CH.200 Fighting a Hydra

CH.200 Fighting a Hydra

“So, the hydra is something we have to deal with. Luckily it is only a twin-headed hydra, so we can deal with it.” Paulina declared, looking over the monsters we had found on our scouting flights.

A hydra, in this world, is not a dragon. It is a monster, just like any other.

No, dragons are not monsters, they are dragons. Different categories. Dragons don’t have a monster core, so they aren’t monsters.

Then there are the two categories of monsters. Well, kind of.

Beasts are ... well, probably what you would imagine. They are relatively ‘normal’ looking animals, except that they have a monster core. Sometimes they might not even have one. It all comes down to one thing, miasma. Laura told me that miasma is a corrupt form of mana. And it seeks out anything living, often turning them into more blood thirty beings. And it also makes them stronger. When miasma gathers in your body, well in the body of a beast, it consolidates into a monster core. So monster cores are basically consolidated miasma.

Anyway, back to monster categories. The other main category is the not so well named monsters. Yeah. Monsters have a sub category called monsters. 5/5 naming right there. Monsters, the sub monsters, are the monsters that aren’t beasts. Goblins, kobolds, orcs, imps, hydras ... all of the little things that you don’t really have an equivalent on earth.

The reason they are separated is actually because of the system. Well, more accurately, the Language Comprehension. With Language Comprehension (Beast), one can understand beast class monsters. And with Language Comprehension (Monster), you can understand the monster category monsters. So yeah. That is the difference.

Now, as to why humans, and dragons, don’t get monster cores. Well, dragons don’t because they are dragons. Don’t blame me for that. That is the reasoning Laura gave me. Dragons just don’t. The system either doesn’t know why, or the information is something Laura doesn't have access to. They just somehow resist the miasma, so it can’t form a monster core inside them.

As to why humans, and other humanoid beings, don’t, well that is because of the system. It exists for a reason. And that reason is that any holder of the system is protected against miasma. Highly concentrated miasma can affect a person with the system, but you would be talking about super high concentrations. To the point where the miasma itself would be able to just spawn monsters, with no host creature or dungeon necessary.

If I were to compare miasma to radiation, it would be basically like opening an active nuclear reactor and going in there, just because you are immune to higher than average background radiation. Actually more like you are immune to an intermediate amount of active radiation, but still. The point stands. Don’t walk into a nuclear reactor. Or a place with super concentrated miasma. You will die. Or get mutated into a monster. But death is more likely. Both on earth and here.

“Okay. So the hydra is on our list.” I confirmed, getting back on topic after that sidetrack of a miasma explanation. “Anything else? The goblins? And what about the forest lynxes?”

Forest lynxes are, as you might have guessed, D-rank cat monsters. It seems that most D-rank monsters in this area are named ‘forest’ and then the thing that it is. Forest lynx, forest boar, forest deer, etc. All D-rank beast monsters.

“The goblins are not a problem and we should leave them for lower ranking adventurers. I’m sure the guild will put up an extermination quest for them as soon as they get the report. But the lynxes... Let’s let them stay. It’s just a pack of three, so it won’t cause a problem.”

“Works for me. Ria, Alice, you two will take down the hydra. Are you fine with that?”

“What? Us? Are you sure? A twin-headed hydra is still B-rank.” Alice asked.

“If you want me to.” Ria on the other hand agreed.

“You can use your summons.” I added.

“Oh. Well then we can.” Alice instantly changed her tune.

“And I’m sure Mana will be happy to get to fight a bit.” I added.

[Alice POV]Spoiler[collapse]

After another roar, the hydra was on the counter attack. Its heads kept their eyes on the two girls that just punched it, and both let out a breath attack. One spewed out flames and the other caused an airstream to rush out. So it is a wind and fire twin hydra.

Wind and fire is actually a dangerous combination, especially in a forest like we are. The fire breath will set all the trees on fire and the wind will fan the flames, so they will burn hotter. That is why a wind-fire hydra is considered one of the more dangerous twin hydras. But still, we prepared to face the most dangerous one, the light and dark hydra, so we can manage this. I hope.

“Dark, gather into spears and pierce my enemy, Dark Spear Barrage!” I chanted my spell.

It was the advanced version of the Dark Spear spell, shooting out any number of Dark Spears with one chant. When Mana showed it to me, she could shoot 20 spears at the same time, but I could only manage four at this time. But considering that when I first casted this spell I could only do two, four is double that. So I think I’ll be able to fire 10 in no time at all.

The spears hit the main body of the hydra, but they didn’t do that much damage. Without using Magician’s Power, my spells really can’t hurt a B-rank monster. I know I should have casted a few Dark Bullets first, but Mana said I shouldn’t, so the hydra wouldn’t attack me.

“Dark Wave!” Mana casted her next spell.

Dark Wave is a spell I can also use, but hers is more powerful. Dark Wave is an attack that confuses the enemy, and attacks that confuse them are considered very effective, as the heads might attack each other.

But we weren’t that lucky. Instead of attacking each other, or the main body, both of the heads just let out another breath attack, with no target. The fire started by the first flame breath got worse. We have to end this quickly and put out the fire.

... actually, how will we do that? None of us can use water magic. And I don’t think Ria is skilled enough with fire magic that she can extinguish a forest fire. Hopefully Paulina can put the fire out. Or maybe Brian will help us with that.

“Alice, attack again. We need to stun it so the others can attack. Use the big one.” Mana called out to me. She then casted a spell. “Dark Press!” Her spell caused the hydra to get heavier, making its movements slower. That makes it an easy target for my spell.

“Yes!” I responded and began my chant. I didn’t really want to use it, but we have to end this fight now. “Dark, flash away the light and strike my enemy, Dark Blaster!”

This was the strongest single spell I could cast at this moment. A beam of darkness flew from me towards the hydra, hitting its main body and causing massive damage. But I never really used it, as this spell had a big flaw.

Thump.

With a soft thump, I fell onto my back.

I woke up a few seconds later. That spell consumed a ton of mana when I casted it, so I passed out for a second after I used it, as I completely ran out. Even if I was full on mana, that spell would take most of it. Just a single cast would take at minimum 1000 of my 1480 mana, but depending on how much power I put into it, I can easily burn my entire mana pool, like I just did. Practicing this spell was actually a reason I asked for the Pitch-Black Power Stone from Brian. With it, I could refill my mana after casting this spell, without having to wait.

I took said card out of my pocket, and said its name to activate it. The card changed color from the usual purple color of the card faded, changing to gray. But in return, a small black stone appeared in my hand. I let my mana, or what of it I had recovered, flow into the stone, causing the rush of mana from the stone to flow into me. When I got this card from Brian, it was enough to fully fill my mana, but now, it wasn’t quite enough. But it was still useful.

With my mana levels up, I got up from the ground, but my body was quite sore, because of the backlash from my Dark Blaster. That spell really is too much for me.

I looked at the hydra. The others had finished it off. Its heads were ... well they no longer looked like heads. Ria and the valkyrie must have punched them hard. And the main body had a hole where my dark blaster had hit and a chunk missing, probably where another Dark Burning spell from Mana had landed. Let’s at least hope that we didn’t destroy every monster core of the hydra.

Hydra’s have multiple monster cores. One in the main body and one for each head. The cores for the heads aren’t always in their heads, but can be anywhere in their body.

Well, all we can do is hope we find the cores when we take this monster apart.