After going into the sea, I met the witch.

Chapter 44: Clues to Hidden Path Professions Outside the System

[Loot: Electric Needle]: A bronze-level loot, a unique electric discharge organ from the tail of the Static Dragon, and also the essence of its entire being. It comes with the special skill [Attribute Resistance Lv.1]: All attribute resistances +1.

-

"Needle of Lightning..."

Ryan quietly examined the newly shrunk, medium-sized trophy in his hand.

The Electric Needle really is just a needle. If you really want to describe it, it looks a lot like a hedgehog's quills, except that it has some light blue patterns on its surface.

What does "+1 to all elemental resistances" mean?

The effect of [Loot: Needle of Lightning] left Ryan somewhat puzzled.

"Direct reduction of elemental damage? Or resistance to abnormal statuses caused by elemental damage?"

Unfortunately, the panel did not provide any further explanation, and Ryan would have to explore it on his own.

But in any case, since it's called "attribute resistance," it must have a reduction effect on attribute damage.

This surprised Ryan greatly.

He had already learned his lesson about the difficulty of dealing with elemental damage.

Not to mention the water jets from the dragon-headed crab, the paralyzing effect from the static electricity attack by the electrostatic dragon not long ago had already given him a severe beating.

The paralyzing effect of the electric, or rather, lightning, attack rendered Ryan completely unable to resist for a short period of time. Without any resistance, he would be utterly helpless against this supernatural power.

Attribute defense ability up!

With a flick of his wrist, Ryan's [Land of War: Electric Needle] vanished. At the same time, a new [Electric Needle] appeared on the mast of the [Nameless Ship Carving] deep within his body, below the [Crimson Horn].

Ryan could feel that his body had undergone some inexplicable changes.

"call……"

With a light breath, Ryan bent down, preparing to collect some materials about the Static Dragon.

Materials obtained from monsters in the traveled lands can be materialized into your own body and used to forge equipment.

As for weapons, Ryan has no shortage of them, but as for protective gear, he can't say he has none, but he has almost none.

The pirates' protective gear was mainly leather armor and studded armor, which was good for blocking knife cuts and sword thrusts, but against the monsters in the places they traveled and professional pirates, well... it wasn't useless, at least their bodies would be relatively intact when they died.

In fact, man-made artifacts for armor are much more valuable than man-made artifacts for weapons, with a huge difference in material consumption and production time.

The static dragon was quite large, so it needed to be skinned before being stored in the space ring to save space. Just as Ryan drew the Greatsword Fierce Ice to prepare for the initial cutting.

Suddenly, the treetops rustled, a fierce wind raged, a majestic dragon's roar echoed in the sky, and a crimson shadow appeared high in the air.

"Damn it!"

Ryan's expression changed drastically. He abandoned all pretense of extracting materials and placed his hand directly on the corpse of the Silent Thunder Dragon. The next second, a spiritual light appeared, and he stored the corpse of the Silent Thunder Dragon into his spatial ring.

This silver spatial ring has a volume of only ten cubic meters, which sounds like a lot, but it was almost completely filled after a complete corpse of a Silent Thunder Dragon was put inside.

Ryan was fast, but the dragon in the sky was not slow either.

It swooped down from the sky and, seeing the Thunder Dragon's corpse mysteriously disappear, let out a deafening roar.

Then, it opened its mouth, and raging flames shot out, covering an area of ​​nearly 100 square meters below.

Compared to this, the Firebird's fireball breath is like a child's game.

The raging inferno engulfed Ryan in an instant.

The terrifyingly high temperature caused his skin to turn black and begin to carbonize in just one second.

This was the result of an inexplicable force resisting within him.

Otherwise, he would have been carbonized in a second.

A sharp pain swept through his body, but before Ryan could scream, the next second, a giant dragon descended from the sky, its claws, larger than a man, pressing down on his head.

At that moment, Ryan's consciousness was completely plunged into darkness.

……

"Hu Chi... Hu Chi..."

The waves churned and crashed against the ship's walls. Inside the cabin, Ryan suddenly sat up, breathing heavily.

The unbearable agony of burning and the pain of being torn apart caused his eyes to become bloodshot.

It took Ryan quite a while to recover.

"Damn fire dragon!"

"You have no sportsmanship, ambushing me... a newbie who just started the job!"

Ryan's face turned pale, filled with indignation.

Heaven knows how long that fire dragon had been lying in ambush nearby, yet it dared to launch a sneak attack while everyone was in danger. It was utterly shameless.

After cursing under his breath for a while, Ryan quickly checked the spatial ring and found that the corpse of the Thunder Dragon inside was still there, which relieved him.

"so far so good……"

If we don't even get the corpse of the Thunder Dragon, then we've really lost out this time, and we've been beaten for nothing.

Ryan glanced at the panel and found that it would take a full 2000 spirit points to materialize the Thunder Dragon.

This amount of spirituality is nothing to Ryan, who currently possesses over seven thousand spiritual points.

However, once it is materialized, how to store it is a big problem.

After thinking it over, Ryan decided to keep it unmanifested for now and store it in the spatial ring on his traveling clone's hand.

Oh, right, there's one thing I need to explain.

While spiritual items like spatial rings can be brought into the Journey Land, ordinary items stored inside will not be brought in with them. In a sense, the spiritual equipment that Ryan brought into the Journey Land is more like a projection.

After confirming that his loot was not lost, Ryan lay back down and opened the panel.

Previously, when the fire dragon crushed his wandering clone with its claws in the travel grounds, a corresponding notification popped up in gray text because of the close proximity. However, he didn't have time to check it at the time, but now he can bring it up to take a look.

-

Rathalos (Leader): A powerful and unique species at the lower tier, the ruler of the skies. Its entire body is covered in crimson scales, and its strong, powerful wings allow it to soar freely through the heavens. The Rathalos's tail spikes contain potent venom, and it can breathe fire.

On the Rathalos's chest is a deep scar, seemingly left by an extremely powerful hunter, which, despite the passage of time, has yet to heal. Influenced by the approaching "Red Sun," the Rathalos is hunting more frequently in the Ancient Forest.

—This monster is far stronger than you; you cannot defeat it. Please get away as soon as possible!

That concludes the introduction to Rathalos. Before Ryan could even ponder it further, he was startled by the new notification displayed in gray text below, his eyes widening in shock.

-

The average length of a male Rathalos is between ten and fifteen meters, but the leader of these males far surpasses its peers, reaching a terrifying twenty-three meters. This is because it once consumed a fruit containing a mysterious fragment.

[Key element discovered - Mysterious fragment]!

Successfully defeat the [Rathalos (Boss)] and retrieve the mysterious fragment from its heart to unlock a hidden career path!

[Hidden Path professions are secret sequences independent of the twelve-sequence system. Even if one takes up a profession in the main world, it will not attract the attention or be targeted by "unknown beings."]

-

Staring blankly at the gray text in front of him, Ryan fell silent, followed by an unprecedented surge of excitement.

Mysterious fragments... concealing hidden cultivation paths!

Ryan has always been troubled by the "path profession".

Although the wandering clone became a [Pirate (Tier 1)], the spirituality it received was only one-fifth of that of a normal professional. If it weren't for the talent [Otherworldly Soul] which forcibly boosted its spirituality, it would have been exposed to Freya long ago.

But this is not a solution.

As his professional rank increases, the spirituality he receives from his travel clones will eventually be lower than that of other professionals of the same rank.

Therefore, how to solve the problem of the main body's job is a major problem facing Ryan.

Ryan kept thinking about it, but he couldn't find a solution.

The status of that "unknown existence" was so high that he didn't even dare to say it aloud, and even the initial prompt on the panel was barely visible.

But now, the emergence of "hidden path professions" has given him a glimmer of hope!

The panel clearly indicates that taking up a "hidden path profession" will not attract the attention of "unknown beings," which means that he can confidently let his main body take up the profession.

At that time, his main body will possess a "hidden path profession," while his clone's profession will reflect one-fifth of his spirituality and professional skills. With two professions in one person, who among those of the same level can be his opponent? It is even possible to fight against those of higher levels!

"breathe……"

After taking a few deep breaths and forcibly suppressing his surging emotions, Ryan calmed down and realized that the biggest problem facing him now was how to defeat the "Rathalos (leader)".

According to the gray text, "Rathalos (Boss)" is at the "lower rank peak" level. Although it is unclear how this "lower rank" is defined, there is no doubt that he is no match for "Rathalos (Boss)" at present.

He needs to raise his Traveling Avatar to a higher level, acquire more loot, and hone his Storm Swordsmanship to a higher level before he will be qualified to challenge the "Rathalos (Boss)".

Before that, gathering as much information as possible about the male and female Rathalos is of paramount importance.

Yes, two Fire Dragons.

Ryan had not forgotten the temporary notes left by the "vice leader of the Seventh Reconnaissance Hunting Group": there was not one fire dragon in the Ancient Forest, but two, a male and a female!

To defeat the "Male Rathalos (leader)," you must be prepared to deal with the Female Rathalos.

The road ahead is difficult, but the future is undoubtedly bright!

Lying on the wooden bed, listening to the soft sound of the waves, Ryan slowly closed his eyes.

He needs to get a good night's sleep.

Because of the attack by the "Rathalos (leader)," this journey lasted less than two hours, and there was still a considerable amount of time before dawn.

……

【Black Rose】, Captain's cabin.

"We must go to the Whirlpool Islands!"

Freyne sat on the captain's special wooden chair, her fingers interlaced on the wooden table, leaning slightly forward, and spoke with a firm and resounding voice.

Beside her stood Cecilia, her face cold and silent, silently guarding her, while opposite her was Ryan.