Ryan tried to touch several spears in order to recover some mana, but in the end, he only managed to touch five. Despite that, in just a second, he recovered one thousand points of mana.

Instead of getting excited, Ryan used Telepathy and began to use INT potions like there was no tomorrow. At that point in time, everything aside from using Draconic Transformation was allowed.

"Screw it," Ryan thought. "You will regret picking a fight with me."

"But you were the one who started the fight," Femradiel said.

Much to Ryan's surprise, the Hydra didn't try to dive even more profound than it already was. That was strange since the monster was smart enough to understand why Ryan used Teleport on himself and on the Hydra. Still, then he considered the possibility that the creature had to stay relatively close to the surface to control Sea Storm.

When Ryan's INT potions had all been used, he decided to go all out. First of all, he teleported himself and the creature back to the storm above the ocean. Immediately, both of them were caught in the air and spinning like crazy due to the whirlwinds, but Ryan didn't let that stop him. Now that the water-resistance was completely gone, Ryan used Telepathy on all spears inside the Hydra's mouth and made them pierce the monster's flesh even further.

The monster trembled since it had become unable to scream due to the strong winds, but Ryan didn't stop there. He continued to make the spears pierce until, much to his surprise and shock, the Hydra was hit by several lightning bolts in a quick succession. Ryan received considerable damage as well since the insides of the monster had the spears, and he was touching several of them. Still, he escaped from passing out thanks to Femradiel, who used Full-Heal.

You obtained 750.000 coins.

In the end, the Hydra was killed, the Sea Storm spell was canceled, and both Ryan and the corpse began to fall toward the ocean again. Ryan was worried about the reason why several lightning bolts conveniently hit the Hydra. Still, in the end, he couldn't stay in the area and ponder about it. He used Teleport, and then after a couple of minutes, he was back to his domain.

"It looks like the cost of teleporting corpses is surprisingly low…" Ryan said. "Anyway, Femradiel. Do you have any idea what happened?"

"No clue," Femradiel replied. "But I am one hundred percent sure that it wasn't by coincidence. Someone tried to take you out by sacrificing that Hydra as well."

At that point in time, it was impossible not to recognize the fact that such a creature was a boss monster. Just the thought that hundreds if not thousands of those were swimming across the oceans and hunting other monsters to become stronger was enough to make Ryan depressed. Although he didn't pay attention to Femradiel's warnings, at the very least, Ryan had to recognize the fact that he wasn't powerful enough to win against such a beast in a one-on-one fight. After all, he didn't fight like he usually fights.

"What is the plan now, Ryan?" Femradiel asked.

"I am not quite sure…" Ryan replied. "It annoys me to admit it, but I can't hunt the Hydras. At some point, I am bound to run against a group of them, and surviving such a fight is probably impossible. Winning then was just an impossible dream…"

"Did you eat something weird?" Femradiel asked. "It is kind of strange to hear you admit your weaknesses like that."

Ryan sighed… to think that Femradiel could make such a comment at that time. It looked like she had already been corrupted by Ryan's sarcasm. Regardless, it has been a while, but Ryan found another enemy that he couldn't win against. The last time such a thing happened was probably when he faced the demons. Although he couldn't imagine himself winning in a severe fight against Yahiko and Alissa, they weren't enemies.

"For the time being, I need to go become stronger as fast as possible and then try to hunt some of these fuckers again," Ryan said and then kicked the Hydra's corpse. "The only way I know to do that is by clearing dungeons and leveling up my classes that are at a low-level."

Ryan's archery classes would help him more to improve his main fighting style, but against monsters such as Hydra, just using a bow or crossbow and then try to keep his distance from them was impossible… or maybe not. After checking his skill list, Ryan found a skill that he had neglected until now that could help him with that. It was Evading Shot. Attacking while using that skill and Ryan's most powerful crossbows would consume a lot of mana, but he didn't have much of choice. To increase his attack speed and firepower output, some problems have to be accepted.

"You can return to your own training, Femradiel," Ryan said. "Speaking of which, it is almost the time you mentioned, right? For the familiars to become as strong as your previous self."

"Yeah, but why stop now when they can become even stronger?" Femradiel asked. "You are so stubborn that you refuse to use Draconic Transformation, so I can't see you using them anytime soon. I should just let them keep training until the real fight begins."

"If you say so," Ryan shrugged.

"In any case, now I have to create a body that will be more useful in underwater battles," Femradiel said. "I suppose that one will cost less mana to create than the Tyrant form."

While Femradiel was mumbling to herself, Ryan looked for the nearest dungeon that he hadn't been cleared yet. This time he wouldn't mess up, he had already discovered several methods to keep improving, and Ryan just had to find the perfect balance between them.

"That will be difficult, but in the end, I reached a point where I can't choose the way to become strong," Ryan said to himself. "I have to use them all."