Seeing the excited look on her face, Ellis immediately understood what had happened.

“You finally found one, huh?” An unknowing smile sneaked up onto his face.

In response, Ena excitedly nodded her head.

“…”

He remained silent for a moment before a soft sigh of relief leaked out from his lips.

With this, that problem should be solved.

While on the outside, everything appeared fine for Ellis and the group, but in truth, they were plagued with one terrible problem. This problem brought on a fair amount of distress for everyone, most notably to Ena. It was the primary reason why she was so fidgety these days. The fact that she ran off somewhere every day, the fact that she always had that somewhat worried, somewhat anxious look on her face, it all linked back to this one problem.

No, it wasn’t just a problem. It was a dire circumstance that needed to be solved.

They were running out of dragon scales.

Of course, the primary cause for this issue was none other than Ena herself. That girl, she did not know the meaning of the word ‘restraint’. She lived a rather indulgent life, bullying other people without a care and eating as much as she could stuff into that little mouth of hers.

In the end, she overindulged. Before she even realized it, her bag suddenly got a lot lighter (figuratively). As the days passed, the number of dragon scales that she had stored up within the magic bag gradually diminished.

Still, blaming it all on Ena might be a bit inappropriate. After all, dragon scales were a precious resource. While Ena definitely consumed the most, everybody else also enjoyed their fair share of it.

Ellis used up quite a bit himself whenever he created his signature ‘dragon spice’. In addition, he also occasionally ate them raw. They really were like potato chips. What’s more, Wight and the others also played a role. They were now able to eat the scales. This was probably the greatest testament to their increased strength.

Everyone’s combined consumption led to the current situation. They were seriously running out of dragon scales! Even with the second dragon added into the mix, they were still teetering on the edge of bankruptcy!

Clearly, this was a terrible problem. Ellis knew this, the wolves knew this, and most importantly, Ena knew this. She was terribly distraught about the issue. Her anxiety only caused her to eat more scales.

Well, since she came back with such an expression, it was clear that she had finally found a solution.

Is it another green dragon? I wonder if there are other types of dragons inside this forest? He wondered to himself.

“Then, lead the way.” Ellis simply said.

“Kyu!” Ena cried out in excitement, before she turned around and dashed forward. Ellis and the others hurriedly chased after her.

They ran along the river bed. He noticed that at some point, her tail begun to shine with a dark-purple glow. Ellis wasn’t an idiot. Although he still did not know what sort of element that color corresponded to, he could begin to make guesses. Since she often used it to search for things (prey), his current guess was that it was something like space.

They followed the river for a while. After nearly three hours, Ena veered off the main river. She followed a branching stream deeper into the forest. In their four-plus years of traveling, they had come across quite a number of branching streams. Despite that, they always stayed with the main river.

Today was another day filled with new experiences.

They followed the stream for a few miles. After a while, the water suddenly grew murkier. Unlike the usual vibrant blue of the main river, the stream took on a shade resembling viscous muck. Looking closely, Ellis soon noticed all the debris and small clumps of dead algae that floated along the water’s surface.

Time continued to pass. Eventually, they came across a pile of ruined corpses. A small mountain of rotting flesh and protruding bone. The corpses created a dam along the river’s path. Past the dam and further down the river, the water level drastically decreased, enough where it now only reached a person’s knees.

The change in environment did not go unnoticed. Still, Ellis showed no signs of stopping. The group continued along the river. After more than a day of traveling, they finally arrived at their destination.

A large lake with murky, almost entirely black water. The lake was nearly five times as large as the lagoon that he had previously visited. In the distance, near the center of the lake, there stood a small island.

…No, that wasn’t an island. Upon closer inspection, Ellis noticed the black scales and pointed ridges that ran along its surface.

It was a giant, scale-covered monstrosity. More so, it had a very familiar appearance.

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A stout body, an exaggeratedly long tail, and multiple necks… this thing, it was totally a hydra. The only point of difference would be the number of heads that it possessed. Instead of the usual nine, this thing had fourteen.

“Well, I shouldn’t be too surprised. Dragons exist after all. Hydras naturally would too.” He nodded to himself. “So, this was what you were searching for, huh?”

Ellis turned to Ena. As expected from a dragon-loving girl, when she ran out of dragons, it was only normal for her to search for more dragons.

Ena nodded in excitement. Drool dripped down her jaws while a peculiar glint flashed through her eyes. This girl, she was seriously looking at that monster with the eyes of a predator. No, not even that. She stared at it the same way as how a person stares at a piece of medium-rare steak.

In comparison, the wolves showed a much less excited expression. In fact, they were downright shivering in fear. Considering how rarely they ever showed fear, this was indeed quite the surprise.

Is that thing really that scary? Detecting power levels wasn’t something he was very good at. He could generally tell whether someone was strong or not, but that was only in comparison to other monsters. For example, he could tell that a bear was weaker than a dragon, but not by how much. The gap between their strengths was a blurry mess that Ellis had trouble identifying.

As for this creature… it was definitely strong. It was probably the strongest monster he had come across, even stronger than Ena. Still, exactly how strong it was… he couldn’t tell.

“Well, it should be at a manageable level.” He thought to himself. “Besides, Ena doesn’t look scared either.”

The little fox was quite fearless. Of course, he did not know whether that was because of her confidence or because of her greed.

After a while, Ena suddenly turned towards him. The two made eye contact. He could see it. The imploring gaze in her eyes was really difficult to ignore. To such a silent method of coercion, Ellis could only nod his head.

With that, the hunt officially started.

****

“Still, this thing’s really strong. I should do this seriously.” He murmured to himself as he walked through the silent forest.

Ellis did not immediately attack the Hydra. He needed to prepare first. After all, that thing was a real boss-level monster. It probably terrorized a significant chunk of the forest. It was best for him not to get too cocky. Boss-class monsters should all be treated with the proper level of respect and reverence that they deserve.

Also, the loot. For the sake of resource management, he needed to make ample preparations.

The group walked through the forest for a while. Eventually, Ellis found a place that satisfied his requirements.

It was a small clearing surrounded by five large trees.

He immediately ordered the wolves to dig-up a hole. It needed to be a hole large enough for the hydra to fit in.

Ena probably wanted to bathe in blood again like last time, so he specifically dug up this hole. He wanted to replicate what had happened back at the lagoon.

After the wolves finished, he had them hide somewhere close by. Despite distancing themselves from the hydra, they were still quite shaken. It was clear that they were in no condition to battle.

Well, that was fine too. It’s not like he was going to force them to do battle. That would be nothing short of suicide.

“Now all that’s left is for someone to lure the hydra over here.” Ellis sank into thought. “But agitating it or attacking it might not work. The hydra might have a way to attack from a distance. It seriously wouldn’t be funny if the person we send out dies in the process.”

“In that case, there was only one other option…” Bait. After all, nobody would ever throw a fireball at a juicy hamburger.

He needed bait. The type of bait that would make the hydra drool in anticipation. A bait that looks both tasty and filling. There was only one person that could fulfill such a role.

His gaze landed on a certain fat-bellied wolf. Naturally, it was Plush, the largest of the wolf siblings.

Plush was… without a doubt, he was a tasty looking wolf. He possessed a stocky build and surprisingly muscular legs. His entire body was the perfect ratio of fat to meat.

Most of the monsters they came across set their sights on Plush. It was clear from their fervent eyes that they saw him as nothing more than a walking piece of meat. There were even times when Ellis felt a similar sense of greed. He would often catch himself staring intently at Plush’s loins.

Plush sensed his gaze. The rotund wolf hurriedly backed away. He frantically shook his head.

Ellis walked over and gently placed a hand over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, old friend. Sacrifices need to be made.”

In the face of such words, Plush’s countenance only worsened. He furiously struggled to escape, but to his dismay, the hand clamped onto his shoulder was frighteningly firm.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” Ellis complained. “I’m not doing this for me, but rather, I’m doing this for you.” It was a completely incomprehensible statement, but hidden beneath was the voice of truth.

“Besides, if you don’t do it, a certain someone will get angry.”

Plush’s snout slightly twitched. His gaze unconsciously drifted towards a certain nine-tailed fox. Ena stared at him with eyes that could practically kill.

He bitterly let out a cry of despair, but there was nothing he could do. In the end, Plush agreed. The rest of the wolf pack barked out words of encouragement, but it all fell on deaf ears.

As he started walking back to the lake, Ellis stopped him.

“Ah, wait a minute, let me do this first.” He turned to Ena. “Ena, since you want this the most, you need to sacrifice a bit too.”

She tilted her head. “Kyu?”

“Blood. I need your blood.”

Ena did not really know why Ellis would make such a sudden declaration, but if it was for dragon scales, then she was prepared to do anything. Without hesitation, she bit down on her front paw. Blood immediately poured out of the little puncture marks on her skin.

“Alright, that should do.” Ellis nodded. He then took her blood and smeared it all over Plush’s body.

At first, Plush was caught off guard. He desperately tried to escape, but Ellis stopped him just in time. “Hold still, don’t move around so damn much.”

Ellis eventually finished. Plush’s entire body was now thoroughly coated in a layer of blood.

The reason why he had done this was to increase Plush’s potential as bait. Back before her birth, a dragon had coveted Ena’s body. It was clear that Ena herself was a precious material, at least in the eyes of a dragon.

It was probably similar to how Ena viewed the dragons as nothing more than a delicious meal. He figured that her blood might have a similar effect on the opposite party.

When he finished coating the blood, Ellis suddenly experienced an epiphany.

Ah, I could have just sent Ena out to lure the hydra…

After such a thought popped into his head, he turned to glance over at the shivering Plush. The fat little thing was clearly still frightened out of his mind. Beside him, Ena stood there with her chest puffed out. A rather serious expression morphed her fox face.

No… it’s a bit too late to say anything anymore… Let’s just roll with it.

He buried his inner thoughts deep within his heart. After giving a few words of encouragement, he hurriedly sent Plush off.

Now, all that’s left to do was wait.