Chapter 4: Scholar Survival Skills
Elite-level boss.
Anyone who did reasonably well in school would understand the danger they represent.
Every creature branded as a boss within the mining area is an extremely dangerous entity.
Hunting bosses, even the lowest-tier elite-level bosses, requires the cooperation of several teams.
Of course, this excludes teams made up of those chosen ones who possess various talents.
On the map of the Rift teleporter, one can see many areas marked in four different colors.
The colors indicate the level of danger.
Yellow zones contain bosses that humanity currently needs to expend a great deal of manpower and sacrifice many elites to deal with.
Blue zones are relatively weaker and are where teams earn their merits, but the death rate is not low. The beginner's village is a green zone, which is generally not too dangerous.
As for the red zones, they hide creatures more powerful than the calamity-level bosses and are areas that are absolutely off-limits.
There are not many blue and green zones; yellow and red zones occupy the majority of the map, which is to say, human civilization is still in the pioneering phase within the mining area.
Tang Xian pointed at a certain place in the blue zone and said,
"The hellhound is a subtropical canine species. The temperature nearby ranges between twenty-three and thirty-one degrees, which is extremely suitable for its survival, and the red soil forest here has quite a number of rabbit-eared mice, which are the favorite food of hellhounds and bone hyenas. Get ready, I'm going to go dog-slaughtering."
It was as if the hellhound was just some small creature. Dong Ran wondered if Tang Xian had any assistance. After all, how would one person go up against a hellhound?
The two of them fell into silence. Tang Xian quietly flipped through the mission handbook, whiling away the time.
...
...
Mining area, the land of red soil.
Dong Ran was very nervous, after all, in the mining area, the vast majority of items would lose their function. A fully-equipped team naturally needed weapons; in the mining area, weapons used, whether knives, spears, staves, or firearms and grenades, were all converted from armed mines.
To slaughter an elite-level boss, aside from preparing weapons, one had to gather team members.
Team members who were good at wielding weapons, those skilled in healing, and those proficient in observation.
The more talent data one has, the greater the derived combat ability.
These abilities are indispensable in confronting bosses.
Tang Xian had nothing.
Inside the tent at night, after he turned off the light, he lay quietly like a still sculpture.
Dong Ran asked Tang Xian what data he could see, and his response shocked Dong Ran.
"I'm not a talent. I have no talents."
"Then... you must have some very powerful weapons, right?"
"Do you think I look like someone who can afford high-end gear based on where I live?"
"Are you, perhaps... backed by some very powerful teammates?"
"I don't know, there should be in the future. It might be worth considering cultivating a few, and we'll see when I meet them."
...
Dong Ran stiffened, suddenly wondering if she had encountered a madman.
Such beings were common in the lower levels, after six years of survival education they return to the first level, longing for the quality life of the third level, and back to the first level where food was scarce, some crazy ideas were born.
"You must have some kind of preparation, right?"
"Of course, I definitely can't tear apart a boss with bare hands. The night in the red soil forest is very dangerous, but there are almost no poisonous insects, snakes, and ants in this area, mostly herbivorous mammals and carnivorous creatures. The food chain here is also quite simple."
Dong Ran didn't quite understand.
"Nature has its own balance, such as the plant that can neutralize poison may be next to the poisonous weed. Hellhounds are not bad at breeding, but the number of hellhounds visible on this land is still not many. It can even be said to be rare."
Tang Xian looked at the girl's befuddled expression, reminding him of the time when he was seventeen and had written an academic report "On the Potential for Domesticating Mining Area's Biosphere," only to be dismissed by his teacher as fanciful. He felt the teacher was just like the girl before him now.
People who are not on the same level simply cannot exchange ideas.
"It means that the natural predator capable of killing hellhounds is also in this region. Beasts, after all, are just beasts. The biggest difference between them and humans is that humans can rely on rationality to suppress instinctive impulses, while beasts only follow their instincts."
After Tang Xian finished speaking, he chose a comfortable position to lie down, as if he was confident that there would be no surprises tonight.
The nights in the mining area are indeed dangerous. Tang Xian had deduced some patterns of nighttime activities of the mining area's creatures based on three incidents of attacks in the beginner's village at night.
Everything in this world has its patterns. It's just that not many are willing to observe.
...
...
The day broke quickly.
When Dong Ran woke up, Tang Xian was squatting at the center of the tent with some fruits on the ground.
"What are these?"
Smelling a fragrance she had never encountered before, Dong Ran's appetite was stirred.
"They're red-tailed tree fruits and blue bananas, the favorites of the black-spotted monkeys. There are quite a few of them living around here. Naturally, there's what they like."
Initially, she did not think it would be edible, as the mining area gave the impression that the animals were wild, and the plants even more so.
But seeing Tang Xian eating with relish, she stopped hesitating, peeled a blue banana, and started eating.
The instant she bit into the pulp, a sweet, smooth, and juicy texture combined with a vanilla-like flavor made Dong Ran's eyes widen.
Oh my, how delicious is this?
Nutritional meals could replicate the taste experience of many fruits, but compared to actual natural fruits, they still fell short in texture.