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Stella could only stare blankly at the situation.
A moment later.
Kwaaaang!
The fireball thrown by Davian struck the hydra's body, causing a large explosion.
A huge amount of black smoke billowed out as Davian's fire elemental magic began to burn the severed cross-section of the neck.
Professor Stella's mouth dropped open once again.
"You're a freshman? Just what is that power..."
Luna was just as unable to close her surprised mouth.
"No way, Davian! You're really the same freshman as me? What is this..."
After a while, the black smoke cleared, revealing the hydra's appearance.
All 128 of the severed cross-sections were seared by the intense fire.
Even so, the hydra's outer skin, covered in scales, was completely unharmed.
Attacking the weak spot under the chin with a sharp attack to cut off the neck, and burning the severed area before two new heads could grow.
This was the only way to defeat the hydra.
Tting.
Davian heard a notification sound that only he could hear.
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[Hidden Quest 'Defeat a Hydra with 100 or More Heads' Successful]
Acquired 5,000 Mana Points.
Skill Acquired: Blessing of Hydra Lv.1
=====
A hidden quest that only appears when encountering a hydra with more than 100 heads.
This was the reason Davian didn't easily defeat the hydra and dragged out the fight.
And the reward for this hidden quest is the Blessing of Hydra skill.
Davian shouted inwardly.
'Skill Status.'
A skill status window unfolded before his eyes.
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[Current Skills]
=====
This time, he looked at the skill name on the status window and shouted inwardly.
'Skill Details.'
A skill details window opened.
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[Blessing of Hydra Lv.1]
Passive Skill.
Increases wound healing speed and partially regenerates the body.
As the level increases, immunity to certain poisons is acquired.
Raising physical strength while possessing the skill will raise the skill level together.
=====
He had obtained this skill in his previous 3rd playthrough as well.
However, he had only majored in magic back then, so he couldn't allocate mana points to physical strength.
Naturally, he couldn't raise the skill level at all.
At level 1, the Blessing of Hydra skill only had the effect of healing wounds slightly faster than others.
The reason he recruited Luna Fueri, who can use detoxification and healing magic simultaneously, and went out of his way to find a hydra in the entrance exam to fight such a difficult battle.
It was to obtain the Blessing of Hydra skill early on and raise the skill level sufficiently.
"Ah! Professor!"
Turning his head at Luna's voice, he saw Professor Stella approaching him.
"Davian, Luna. What is going on here? You two clearly knew how to defeat the hydra. But what are all those hydra heads on the ground? Why didn't you burn them with fire beforehand? How many heads did it have when you first encountered it?"
Luna answered in a small voice.
"One..."
Davian moved his toe to poke Luna's foot.
Startled, Luna turned her head, and Davian opened his mouth.
"I knew that the neck under the chin was a weak spot, but I didn't know that the severed cross-section had to be seared with fire. Luna barely remembered it later and told me. Right, Luna? I would have been in big trouble if it weren't for you."
Luna looked back and forth between Davian and Professor Stella, opening and closing her mouth without saying anything.
Davian's toe poked Luna's foot once more.
"Y-yeah! That's right. I remembered it too late, so I almost got in big trouble. Ahaha... That's right, Professor. I kept almost remembering it, but then I suddenly remembered and told Davian."
"Hmm... Is that so? Then why did you come all the way here?"
"Um... That's..."
"Well, we wanted to catch a monster that was a little different from the others. Regardless of whether we passed the entrance exam or not, we wanted to be recognized by the professors."
Of course, it was a lie. It was only to obtain the Blessing of Hydra skill quickly.
"You did all this just to get some recognition? You could have been hit by a breath attack and melted away before you could even tear your name tags, or died from poison. Do you know that?"
"I'm sorry. But there's even someone with a mana affinity of 116 among this year's freshmen. If we didn't do something like this, it would have been difficult to even get attention, let alone recognition."
Professor Stella raised her right hand and rubbed her forehead.
"Show-offs."
They were just greenhorns who had just entered the academy.
Wanting to be recognized and keeping an eye on classmates with abnormal mana affinity were not incomprehensible.
"I think your actions were reckless. Of course, you somehow managed to defeat the hydra, but you should have torn your name tags and returned to the auditorium before that. ...But there's probably a professor in the auditorium right now who is very satisfied with your actions."
The expression on the clueless Luna Fueri's face brightened.
"Let's go back. The sun is setting."
At that moment, Davian opened his mouth.
"But Professor."
"What?"
"Since we defeated the hydra, we can dispose of the severed heads as we see fit, right?"
"You little rascal. Don't tell me?"
"Ah, I definitely didn't make so many heads and cut them off just to use the hydra heads. But since there are so many of them anyway, it would be a waste to just throw them away like that."
"Davian. You're such an unpredictable fellow. You defeated it, so do whatever you want with it."
Stella took out a scroll she had brought and tore it in half.
It was a scroll with a magic circle that would return them to the auditorium.
In an instant, a round magic circle was drawn beneath her feet and began to emit a bright light.
After Professor Stella disappeared, Davian looked around.
Then he approached a large rock and began to fire off sharp wind magic.
"Davian, what are you doing this time?"
"I'm going to carve a magic circle here so we can come back here."
After a while, a large circular magic circle was carved into the rock.
"Amazing. You can even draw magic circles?"
"It's basic. Now let's go back too, Luna."
"Huh? Okay!"
Davian and Luna also tore the name tags attached to their chests.
A magic circle was drawn beneath their feet, just like Stella, and a bright light was emitted.
Most of the students had already returned to the auditorium.
The freshmen whispered as they watched Davian and Luna return, their clothes in disarray.
"Isn't that him? The three-digit one."
"He doesn't have any injuries, but his clothes are a mess? What kind of monster did he fight? Did he meet a troll or something?"
"It looks like his clothes are melted, not torn? He must have met a monster that spews poison."
"Did they go alone like that? What's with the two of them? Are they already dating?"
After a while, Professor Stella, who had taken the stage, said in a loud voice.
"Alright, it's dinner time now. Move to the dining hall under the guidance of the caretakers. The meal time is two hours. It's practically free time, so after you finish eating, take a look around the academy. And if you return to the auditorium in two hours, the entrance exam results will be announced immediately. Some will be assigned to dormitories, and some will go straight back home. That's all."
Squeak.
The huge doors of the auditorium opened automatically.
The students mainly left the auditorium in groups of twos and threes with those who had taken the entrance exam together.
Davian looked at Luna and said.
"Let's change our clothes and go eat."
"Ah...!"
Only then did Luna lower her head to check her appearance.
Due to the characteristics of the low-lying poisonous clouds, her lower body was melted in several places, revealing her bare legs.
She should have noticed already, but she had been so shocked by the encounter with the hydra with a hundred heads that she hadn't had time to pay attention to it.
"I, I'll go change!"
Luna hurriedly packed her things and ran out the side door of the auditorium.
"It'll be far if you go that way."
But Luna, who had disappeared like an arrow, couldn't hear Davian's words.
Davian slowly went to the front of the auditorium and opened a small door next to the stage.
It was a storage room for storing various items used in the auditorium.
After changing his clothes neatly and waiting in the auditorium for a long time, Luna returned.
All the students had already moved to the dining hall.
"Let's go."
"Okay!"
In the large dining hall, which seemed to be able to accommodate 500 people, long tables were arranged in rows, and a buffet of various foods was set up in the center.
"Wow!"
Unlike Luna, who couldn't close her mouth and looked around at the various dishes, Davian only put a few meat-centered dishes on his plate and took a seat at a nearby table.
Luna, who had been exclaiming "Wow, wow!" while walking around for a while, held a plate with a modest arrangement and sat down across from Davian.
By the time Luna returned, Davian had already finished his meal.
"Luna. I have somewhere to go, so take your time eating."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
"You don't need to know. I'm going."
Davian got up from his seat, took his plate to the return area, and left the dining hall.
Luna's cheeks puffed up as she watched Davian's back.
Luna poked the meat with her fork, imitating Davian's cold tone with a pout.
"You don't need to know. I'm going. Hmph."
Davian, who had left the dining hall, headed to a dark alley behind the dining hall.
'It was in the alley behind the dining hall.'
He looked around, but no one was visible.
'It's supposed to be after dinner on the first day, so it should be now.'
It was then. A group of footsteps was heard from the side of the building on the other side.
Davian first hid behind a small wall nearby.
After a while, four freshmen appeared.
All faces Davian knew.
Three students cornered a large student with brown hair against the wall and surrounded him.
The brown-haired student had already been beaten a bit, as various parts of his face were turning blue.
"Oh, I thought you were someone who could do something since you're so big."
"Why are you doing this?"
"You tripped Brenton in the Alzass Forest. You bastard."
"I didn't trip him. He ran into me."
A student with well-groomed blond hair punched the large student in the solar plexus.
Thud!
A sound with considerable force, even from afar.
"Cough!"
"And the other freshmen who were nearby saw it all. What about the shame and hurt that my friend Brenton received? Huh?"
A vein popped out on Davian's left temple as he watched this scene from behind the wall.
'That's all it was? They ran into Nubes themselves. And for that reason alone, they made him go around feeling dejected for over a year?'
The cowardly Nubes Arbo.
Nearly 2 meters tall with broad shoulders.
He had a naturally strong build on the outside.
But unfortunately, he had several shortcomings as a swordsman.
He was timid and didn't have great athletic ability.
His mana affinity was also just average within the academy.
Moreover, after today's group beating incident, he would spend more than a year living at the academy feeling dejected.
Of course, it wasn't that he lived that way for a year just because he had been beaten once.
It was because Rex and his gang harassed Nubes from time to time.
That Nubes had once saved Davian's life in the 3rd playthrough.
The cowardly Nubes, who had blocked a barrage of arrows pouring out from the organization with his whole body.
Davian still remembers the words he uttered at the time.
A guy covered in arrows, collapsing, could only say.
'Haha, but I'm still better at tanking than you...'
Then he collapsed, becoming a blood-soaked, oversized hedgehog.
Davian had promised then that he would repay the favor.
And today was that day.
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