Chapter 11: The King of Rage, Hydra

As soon as Luca killed the Dire Wolf.

A bronze light flashed over its charred corpse.

"It dropped an item!" Luca's eyes gleamed with joy as he hurriedly picked it up.

[Wolf Fang Dagger (Bronze Grade): Level 10, Assassin equipment, Strength +30, Agility +30.]

"Another dagger?" Although it wasn't equipment he could use, Luca was a bit disappointed.

Still, the dagger was worth a few dozen gold coins, making it a decent find.

With more than half of the five minutes already gone, the surrounding monsters were beginning to regain their mobility.

Luca needed to leave time for an escape. Using the newly acquired Wolf Fang Dagger, he made a deep cut in the Dire Wolf's abdomen, extracted its heart, and swiftly removed its fangs and claws.

With limited time, Luca couldn't afford to skin the wolf, though it pained him. It was better than being surrounded by monsters.

Packing everything up, Luca prepared to take Catherine and leave.

But then, his pupils contracted sharply!

A strong sense of danger gripped him, making his hair stand on end.

Before he could react.

An overwhelming pressure descended!

Nine deafening roars erupted from the cave, and dense black demonic energy shot through the rock walls and into the sky!

Under this immense pressure, the previously paralyzed monsters, now recovering, showed fear and prostrated themselves, trembling violently.

"What is happening?!" Catherine and the city guards were shocked by the scene.

This level of pressure was far beyond that of ordinary monsters!

What kind of monster was hiding in there?!

Luca's face darkened.

"So, you're here..." he muttered, turning slowly.

Through the thick demonic energy, Luca glimpsed nine monstrous snake heads inside the cave!

Seeing these familiar heads, his fists clenched tightly!

He couldn't believe it.

In less than a day, he had encountered the monster that had killed him on the extraterrestrial battlefield!

The King of Rage—Hydra!

A nine-headed demon serpent from the Abyssal Demon Realm, a terrifying Transcendent-tier peak monster!

Luca didn't know whether to consider himself unlucky or lucky.

Unlucky because the first Spatial Node he found was the one where the King of Rage Hydra was descending.

Lucky because the Hydra hadn't fully emerged from the Abyssal Demon Realm yet; this was just its apparition.

Its main body was still in the Abyssal Demon Realm.

It far from crossing the node into the Eternal Continent, let alone descending into the real world.

With this realization, Luca felt a sense of relief, but his eyes turned icy.

There was still time!

As long as the node is destroyed before Hydra descends, that beast will be forced back into the Abyssal Demon Realm!

Next, Luca needed to inform Riverfall City about this.

The city's strongmen would surely recognize the severity of the situation and take action.

After casting one last glance at the dark cave.

Luca wasted no time and quickly led Catherine away from the area.

Given his current strength, there was very little he could do.

Even if Hydra hadn't fully descended, it could easily kill him.

The priority now was to complete his Demonic Rune Mage class change and quickly enhance his power.

Seeing Luca leave without looking back.

The city guards wasted no time following him. They didn't dare linger.

Only after exiting the Beast Forest did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The earlier terrifying scene had scared everyone senseless.

"What kind of monster was that? I thought I was done for!" the burly man who had earlier promised Luca a drink said, still shaken.

Another young man, eyes filled with fear, added, "Who knows what it was. That pressure was too overwhelming. It must have been at least a Platinum Grade lord monster!"

A female mage looked at Catherine with concern, "Captain, a monster like that so close to Riverfall City is a serious threat. Should we report this to Lord Rudolph?"

Rudolph Barton, the lord of Riverfall City, was also a viscount of the Emerald State, assisting Count Ryan in managing the territory.

Catherine didn't hesitate, "Of course we need to report it, and quickly! If there's a Platinum Grade or stronger monster in that cave, Lord Rudolph can escalate it to the count."

"Whatever happens, we can't let this situation worsen!"

Catherine now understood the gravity of the issue.

The Dire Wolf that attacked her brother likely did so under the influence of the terrifying monster in the cave. If true, it could even lead to a monster horde.

Luca, who had remained silent, nodded and then said with a bit of exasperation, "Miss Catherine, I admire your decisiveness, but your armor is really heavy. Could you get off my back?"

Catherine realized just now.

She was still being carried by Luca in her haste.

Blushing, she quickly climbed off, stammering, "I'm sorry, Witch Doctor Luca."

[Ding! Catherine's favorability towards you +100]

Luca stretched his aching back and looked at the favorability notification, feeling a mix of amusement and confusion.

Her favorability seemed to increase for the strangest reasons...

At that moment, Catherine remembered something. She took out 150 gold coins from her storage ring and handed them to Luca.

She apologized, "Witch Doctor Luca, I need to report our encounter to Lord Rudolph at the City Lord's Mansion. Could you please take care of my brother? The extra 50 gold coins are my way of saying thank you."

[Ding! You have completed the quest "Finding the Dire Wolves" and received 100 gold coins!]

[Ding! Catherine has given you 50 gold coins and asked you to look after her brother, Kaman.]

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of your brother," Luca replied without hesitation.

It was essentially an extra 50 gold coins handed to him, and he wasn't about to refuse.

Not long after, the group arrived back at Riverfall City.

After entering the city, Luca bid farewell to Catherine and the others, heading alone to Franklin's clinic on West Street.

During the walk, Luca reviewed his gains from this adventure.

He had a Silver-grade storage ring with ten square meters of space, two Bronze-grade pieces of equipment (including the Furious Boar Bracers for his use), the system reward Skill Scroll "Wind Walk," and 500 gold coins.

"Wind Walk" was a low-level wind attribute skill that increased movement speed, significantly enhancing survival and mobility for a mage.

Luca decided to use it immediately.

[Ding! You have used the Skill Scroll and acquired the low-level skill "Wind Walk"!]

[Wind Walk (Low-level skill): Increases Agility by 30 points and movement speed by 20%.]

Among his rewards, Luca was most thrilled with the 500 gold coins.

This sum was a small fortune in the early stages of the game, enough to buy a decent Silver-grade piece of equipment!

Converted to real money, it would be worth at least $50,000!

Additionally, he had some common equipment and materials from the Beast Forest.

These stuff all were given by killing monster in their adventure.

Catherine's team give it to Luca.

Luca sold these items at a general store.

He earning a total of 120 gold coins.

Combined with his previous rewards, he now had nearly 844 gold coins!

With this amount, Luca felt relieved.

He wouldn't have to worry about materials for crafting enhancement magic runes for his Demonic Rune Mage class for a while.

He could even convert some of the money to stockpile food in case of emergencies.

Luca then equipped his new gear and allocated all 30 free attribute points to his Spirit stat.

He opened his status panel to check his attributes.

[Name: Luca ]

[Level: lv10 ]

[Talent: The Person Favored (SSS-level) ]

[Class: Formal Mage (Black Iron Level) ]

[HP: 1600 ]

[MP: 2900 ]

[Attack: 577-592 ]

[Attributes: Strength 130, Spirit 250, Stamina 130, Agility 190 ]

[Special: Charm 100, Reflex 100, Talent 100, Luck 100 ]

[Titles: Peerless appearance, Unrivaled in elegance and charm, Danger Perception, The Son of Luck ]

[Skills: Basic Magic lv3, Skinning lv3, Herb Synthesis lv2, Water Arrow Spell lv2, Fireball lv2, Wind Walk lv1... Equipment: Black Gold Robe (Gold), Blackwood Staff (Iron), Furious Boar Bracers (Bronze), Bamboo Grass Shoes (Black Iron Level)...]

...

Luca's base attack had now reached nearly 600 points.

With elemental skills, he could deal almost 750 points of damage to his targets!

If other players knew this, they would be stunned.

Most players' damage was still hovering around ten to twenty points.

Luca had outpaced them by several leagues!