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After the incident with Dong Zhu, we finished up our lunch fairly quickly. I got another bowl of ramen for free, since my original one had been ruined. I was pretty surprised when the owner told me I could come here anytime and eat free of charge, but hey, I'm not about to reject that offer. If I ever come back to Huizhou in the future, I'll know where to go for food.

We finished lunch at around 1 PM, so that meant we had an entire afternoon to kill before night struck. I was a bit concerned about what Dong Zhu would try tonight, since he was almost certainly going to attempt killing me for revenge. But then again, as long as they didn't call for reinforcements, we would be able to handle them easily. I doubted the four of them could even capture Qing Yue, the weakest one out of all of us.

But knowing these arrogant, spoiled young masters too well, I knew for certain Dong Zhu was going to ask his father to help him out. If that happens, things could get messy. His father may send a couple of Ancestral Mages or even Golden Monarchs to help him out. Overkill for just a bunch of brats like us? Maybe...that is, if they didn't know about our true strength. Obsidia alone can handle a couple of Ancestral Mages, but she probably can't defeat a Golden Monarch unless she resorted to her dragon form, which I would like to avoid by all means possible.

In any case, I would worry about that later. For now, I would just focus on exploring the city with the girls.

"Hey hey, Big Brother Xuan Kai, look! What's that?" Qing Yue asked, pointing at a crowd that had gathered around a building. Some guy was standing at the entrance, holding a megaphone.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" the man announced, attracting the eyes of many. "We are the Hunters' Guild of Huizhou, as you all know."

Huh...so this is the Huizhou branch of the Hunters' Guild.

I looked over at Lan Xiao Su. She noticed my gaze, and nodded, confirming that this was indeed the Hunters' Guild. The branches obviously had communication between them, so it made sense for Lan Xiao Su to know what the Huizhou branch looked like and where it was.

Overall, the place was less futuristic than Shenzhen's branch, but at the same time, it wasn't worn down or anything. It still looked like a proper 21st Century urban building. It was only one floor by the looks of it, but was extremely wide - just like Shenzhen's.

"I came here to inform the citizens of the city that we have just located a Hydra in the Infinite Forest," the announcer man continued. "We plan to head out tonight to hunt it down, but at the moment, we do not have enough forces. Therefore, we are requesting assistance from anyone Intermediate Mage or above. Everyone who participates will be rewarded handsomely. However, do take note - do not think you can just contribute nothing and expect to get paid. You will only get what you put into this mission."

A hydra...? Wait...didn't Qing Yue mention the Hydra Fang as an ingredient for the antidote to the 1 Year Curse?

"Guys, we're doing this," I said.

The girls immediately spun around and looked at me, wide-eyed.

I frowned. "What?"

"N-No, it's just...I never expected you to join in on stuff like this," Feng Mian murmured awkwardly.

"Yeah...you don't seem like the type to care about rewards and stuff..." Xiang Peng added.

I sighed. "You're right. I don't care about the reward, but that's a Hydra. And according to Qing Yue...Hydra Fang is an essential ingredient to the 1 Year Curse's antidote, no?"

I turned to look at Qing Yue, who immediately nodded. "Oh, I see! So that's what Big Brother Xuan Kai's plan is. Ehehe, Lan Xiao Su, you're pretty lucky, to have Big Brother Xuan Kai care about you so much."

Lan Xiao Su covered her face nervously and I could've sworn I saw steam come out of her ears.

I rolled my eyes. "I made a deal with her, nothing more. Relax."

"I mean, I'm down to do this," Yu An Yan said with a shrug. "It's just...will we be able to help at all? And besides, a Hydra has nine heads, right? If there's two fangs on each head, then that's 18 fangs in total. What are the chances of us getting one among all of these people? I mean, just look at them, they're already lining up to register."

I shook my head. "According to one of the textbooks I came across in the school library back in Shenzhen, Hydras have a special perk. When you cut off one of its heads, two more will take its place. The only way to kill a Hydra is to find the one true head - the one that won't spawn two more when it gets severed."

"Huh..." Yu An Yan muttered.

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it..." Flaria suddenly spoke up. "I have a Hydra friend in the Summoning Dimension. He said the reason Hydras are feared is not because they are insanely strong like Basilisks, or have incredibly tough scales like Dragons. Hydras are feared because they are extremely hard to kill - and the more you try to kill it, the more powerful it becomes."

"Huh...wait, then if we kill this Hydra, would that upset your friend?" I asked.

Flaria shook her head. "Nah. Hydras are by nature independent creatures. They don't really care about one another, one way or the other."

"I...see," I replied.

Well, you learn something new everyday.

"Anyway, let's get in line before they run out of spots," I concluded.

*****

"Oh yeah, by the way, Flaria, what elements can you use?" I asked, as we were waiting in line. "They said we had to at least be an Intermediate Mage. Most of us have Mage IDs, but..."

"Don't worry! I have one," Lan Xiao Su interjected. "The Hunters' Guild administers Advancement Exams as well, being a big organization. I'm a certified Intermediate Mage."

I nodded. "I see. Good...but what about Flaria and Obsidia?"

Xiang Peng frowned. "Aw, you didn't ask about me? This big sister is sad now..."

I ignored her. She obviously had a Mage ID - and was an Ancestral Mage, at that.

"I do not possess a Mage ID," Obsidia replied.

"Yeah, me neither," Flaria added.

I sighed. "Well, guess you two will just have to sit this one out then."

"What about Mei Gui?" Feng Mian asked.

"She can pass as a golem," I replied. "But Obsidia's human form is too tall for that. No human-type golems are that tall, considering the manufacturing cost. And as for Flaria...well, she's not expressionless enough."

"H-Hey! I can be expressionless if I want to!" Flaria protested, but I just gave her a demeaning look.

"If you explode at the slightest provocation like that, then you'll never be able to pass as a golem."

"W-Wha-" she opened her mouth again to argue, but realizing that would accomplish nothing except prove my point, she closed it again.

"Obsidia, take her back to the hotel. You two just chill there," I instructed, to which Obsidia nodded and grabbed Flaria up by her collar with ease and began dragging her away.

"Hey, wai-" but Obsidia covered her mouth easily, and honestly, it looked like a really poorly planned kidnapping, if there wasn't any context. Luckily, no one around cared enough to bother stopping Obsidia, since they were all too focused on signing up for the Hydra hunt.

Finally, it was our turn. "Hi, are there any spots left?"

The man who had held the megaphone earlier nodded, and was now sitting in front of me. "Are you and those ladies behind you all together?"

I nodded. "Yeah. 8 people in total."

Originally we had ten, but excluding Obsidia and Flaria, that makes eight.

"...Huh, what a coincidence. There are exactly 8 spots left. Any more and the party would be too big, scaring the Hydra off."

"How many people are there in total?" I asked.

"Thirty," he replied. "According to our research, Hydras tend to run away if they are facing over 30 foes, regardless of individual strength. As for the reason for that, I do not know, nor is it important. Now then, can you please fill out this registration form and show me your Mage ID?"

I did as told, and the man repeated the same process with the girls. After we were all done, we were led inside the Hunters' Guild room as the man picked up his megaphone again and announced that there were no spots left. The people who had been waiting behind us groaned in disappointment and dispersed.

Once they were gone, the man came back inside the building, and spoke.

"Alright. There are thirty of us here - this will be the team to slay the Hydra in the Infinite Forest," the man said. "As I already explained earlier, yes, you will be rewarded handsomely, but only if you put in effort and contribute to the operation. The best prize, undoubtedly, will be a Hydra Fang. We, as the Hunters' Guild, like to keep things fair. Therefore, the Hydra Fangs are up for grabs for whoever manages to obtain it. If you want it, you fight for it."

This caused a stir in the crowd, and the man continued.

"However. You are not allowed to hurt your own teammates. If you do, you will be charged, and of course, never receive the prize. In addition, it is not allowed to purposely make the Hydra spawn more heads just so you have a better chance at getting a Fang. If you do this, you will face the same punishment as if you had injured your own teammates, since this is practically doing exactly the same thing, just indirectly."

After everyone had settled down again, the man drew his sword, and pointed it high in the air.

"That's all. We will set off at 7 PM tonight. From now until then, train, and prepare for the upcoming excursion. Good luck, everyone!"